Who does not seek advice usually pays the consequences. In the case of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, the impact is even more striking, not only for his economic formation, but also for the weight of his investiture. The storm unleashed on Friday afternoon is far from dissipating and, beyond the possible political and judicial repercussions that the failed pound project could bring to him, there is an especially worrying aspect: the damage that this scandal will cause in those who were considering entering The cryptocurrencies, but still had doubts.
Let’s start at the beginning. On Friday afternoon, a private investment project called Libra, launched in the Solana Red -known for being a fertile land for the creation of memecoins, -descriptomonedas born as jokes on the Internet. According to the president himself, Libra aimed to boost the Argentine economy through support for small and medium enterprises.
Through the social network X, Milei promoted the project and, in a few hours, its value shot 500%, exceeding $ 4.5. However, when reaching its peak, The price collapsed abruptly due to mass sales from addresses linked to the initiative. This maneuver, known as rug pullit is, in essence, a scam. Approximately five hours later, Milei eliminated its publication and uploaded a new one, arguing that it had rushed and that it was not well informed. By then, the damage was already done.
What happened on Friday was not anything. It had a snowball effect that will take a long time to stop. According to the Bubblemaps organization, the team behind Libra managed to obtain more than 80 million dollars, which turned out that thousands of people lost the money invested. Throughout the weekend, politicians, entrepreneurs and finance experts, both of the cryptocurrency industry and outside of it, expressed reproaches and total bewilderment.
At the time of writing this article, there are many people who still discuss whether the Argentine president was involved as an intellectual author in what happened, or if he simply entered a land in which he lacked advice, at least adequate.
The reputational damage that this storm will cause to Milei and the possible judicial implications are still to be seen, but what can already be anticipated is the impact that this will have, not only in the cryptocurrency sector in Argentina, but also globally.
Politicians, business figures and multilateral organizations that already oppose cryptoactive ones will not lose the opportunity to capitalize on what happened, creating sensationalist slogans and simplifications that will sell as irrefutable evidence. «Here is the evidence: digital currencies are a scam, and that of ‘bitcoin’ must be observed with magnifying glass. Stay remote ». Unfortunately, many people will buy the narrative.
It is not for less. Although the presidential investiture does not guarantee that whoever holds it is up to it, it is a position that carries a considerable weight in our societies. For thousands of citizens, the President of the Republic represents someone who puts the needs of the people themselves, a highly trained person in Management and the most suitable to guide the fate of the country.
Therefore, if you buy the story that «the president stole millions of dollars thanks to the nature of cryptocurrencies,» many will step back. Those users with few savings who were considering Bitcoin as a great ally to ensure a stronger financial future, or merchants who thought of the leading cryptocurrency as a way of modernizing their business, will not only think about it several times, but also that They will even close the door to the possibility of investigating themselves what happened.
This point, in the case of Argentina, could generate discouraging consequences, since since the Government of Mauricio Macri began to face economic difficulties in April 2018, The Argentine peso began to devalue itself quicklyuntil reaching the current value of 1,078 pesos per dollar, according to the official price of the Argentine Nation Bank – it is worth noting that the dollar is strongly intervened and the population, if you want to easily access it, usually go to the black market, which has contributions higher-.
As a consequence of this, a new tendency to save in dollars that Argentines had adopted for several decades was added: to go to cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, to protect their heritage.
Argentina embraced the cryptoactives in such a way that, in October 2024, a chainysis report- based on data from June 2023 to June 2024- located the country in the first place in Latin America in terms of the use of cryptocurrencies, even exceeding even to Brazil-leader for several years. In addition, in December 2024, a Finnovista study revealed that the Fintech sector in Argentina had grown by 11.7% compared to 2023, incorporating 40 new ventures. In this context, national -based national projects had increased from 20 to 36.
While these are solid data, they are not enough to affirm that there is a massive adoption of cryptocurrencies among the population. There is still much to do, especially in a society in which most still think of US dollars and goes to local financial institutions to carry out life projects. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies represent a significant change, but their peak will not come immediately, but rather in the long term. Only when a large part of the population begins to think about their goals in the future, without involving the State, then we can celebrate a real advance. Until then, there is still a way to go. Not even Bukele, with all the achievements in El Salvador, can say that he has completed the task that was proposed by integrating Bitcoin into the economy.
It is important to clarify that the success or failure of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in a region does not depend on an individual or government. However, legitimate incentives and supports that can come from politics-once every ten Lent-or to ignore such serious errors as the one that occurred with Libra. Although it may seem impressive for some, the reality is that A single mistake can give a very hard blow to what cost a lot of time and build effortand even more in a context where education plays a fundamental role.
There are many people who do not see cryptocurrencies negatively, but still understand that their operation is based on individual responsibility. If you make a good decision in this area, Clever it, because regardless of whether you had luck or not, you had the value of acting. However, if you make a mistake, you must accept that there is no government or bank that comes to rescue you, and that no one forced you to make that decision.
Despite the unfortunate events, there are innumerable reasons to trust that the sector will know how to overcome obstacles. No one ever said that there would be no setbacks or that the road would be easy. For those who defend the battle of ideas, all we can do is promote education and explain that Blind faith in political or media figures can cost very expensive in the world of investments.
Discharge of responsibility: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to its author and do not necessarily reflect those of cryptootics. The author’s opinion is informatively and under no circumstances constitutes an investment recommendation or financial advice.