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The president minimized the number of affected by denoting that they were 44,000.
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«Now I must lift filters and walls so that it is not so easy to get to me,» he said.
In his first interview after the scandal related to the cryptocurrency Libra, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, said that those affected by the collapse of the asset are «volatility operators» that assumed conscious risks, comparing the situation with «going to the casino and lose money ». The president insisted that he did not promote the project, but disseminated it as a tool to finance entrepreneurs, and refused to assume responsibility for millionaire losses.
Milei argued that his tweet about Libra, published three minutes after his launch, responded to his enthusiasm for technological projects that «help Argentines.» He assured that his role was only to give visibility to a private initiative aimed at having informal entrepreneurs, without economic bond with its creators. «I did not promote it, I spread it. I am a fanatic tech-optimist », He affirmed, demarcating his action of a possible scam.
The president minimized the number of affected: he denied that they were 44,000 and said that, in the best case, they are 5,000 people, many of them «bots» and with «very few Argentines.» He stressed that the participants were experienced traders: «They knew very well the risk they were running. If you go to the casino and lose, it is your problem ». In addition, he stressed that most investors were foreigners, mainly American and Chinese.
During his conversation with journalist Joni Viale, Milei explained that his interest in LIBRA was motivated by his passion for technology and his desire to support Argentine entrepreneurs who lack access to traditional financing due to informality and the absence of a robust capital market in Argentina. «In the United States they could finance these types of projects, but in Argentina, no,» he said.
The president referred to the tweet he published about Libra, explaining that he had done so to dissemin . «In doubt, I run,» he said, indicating his decision not to keep the tweet to avoid more misunderstandings.
Although he defended his act «in good faith», Milei admitted that the scandal forced him to rethink his accessibility: «I assumed the presidency and continued being the usual Javier Milei. Now I must lift filters and walls so that it is not so easy to reach me ». He acknowledged that, despite his intentions, the dissemination of Libra generated a «slap.» «I worked in good faith and ate a slap,» he said.
«If I look at political repercussions and all political miserability, I can say: well, okay, I have something to learn, I have something to learn. It is that I assumed the presidency and continued being Javier Milei the usual, yes. And that is, any of those who know me know that it is accessed in the same way when I was not president. Unfortunately, what shows me this is that I have to grab and lift the filters, that is, it cannot be so easy to reach me ».
Javier Milei, president of Argentina.
Milei also defended himself from the accusations of having promoted a scam, clarifying that his intention was the dissemination and not the promotion of cryptocurrency. «I have nothing to do with this,» he said, referring to Davis’s claims, who supposedly said Milei does not know cryptocurrencies. «My specialization is economic growth and inflation reduction, not cryptocurrencies»he added.
Regarding legal and political actions, Milei mentioned that the Government is cooperating with investigations and that it has requested an anti -corruption office investigation, even about itself, to demonstrate its good faith and transparency.