What The Hell America!

Last Friday, Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, posted a link on X/Twitter to promote $Libra, a new cryptocurrency that, in his words, would “promote economic growth in Argentina and fund small business and entrepreneurship in Argentina.” The currency quickly rose in value, receiving support from the international cryptosphere and his base of hardcore supporters in Argentina. Within a few hours of Milei’s tweet, however, the coin became virtually worthless. The creators of the currency pulled their investments — around $100 million was withdrawn in total — resulting in multimillion-dollar profits for insiders and the sudden evaporation of the savings of some of Milei’s most ardent supporters.

The fate of $Libra’s investors mirrored that of those who a few weeks earlier invested in $Hawk, the cryptocurrency launched by the “Hawk Tuah girl.” But the big difference was that $Libra was not the product of an internet personality but the president of the country with the world’s twenty-fourth highest GDP.

Due to Milei’s saintlike status within the right-wing online community, the currency seemed a safe bet for those who ideologically identified with his political project. Some of his most loyal supporters reportedly lost their savings after investing in the currency. While the full effects of the apparent scam might not be known until much later, it is clear that Milei has seen a significant drop in support since the scandal, and lawsuits are currently being filed in Argentina and the United States.

Political personalities across the Argentine ideological spectrum took to X to condemn Milei’s actions. Former right-wing president Mauricio Macri publicly distanced himself from Milei. The Trotskyist and Peronist opposition called for an impeachment trial, while centrist sectors called for a parliamentary investigation into the incident, which could constitute the first real threat to Milei’s presidency since he was inaugurated with popular support in December 2023.

Milei, a serial tweeter, remained mostly silent on X for several days. Finally, on Monday night, he had the opportunity to make his case before the nation in a recorded interview with Todo Noticias, a station sympathetic to his agenda. But instead of apologizing, he doubled down, saying that he didn’t have to apologize because he didn’t promote $Libra; he just shared it, effectively comparing it to when a president visits a business. He then went on to state that he shared it from his personal account. Therefore, he did nothing wrong. There was no state involvement; it was an issue between private entities. He added that those who suffered losses should have known better, stating, “If you go to the casino, you lose money. What’s the complaint?”

Shortly after the interview, a clip surfaced of one of Milei’s advisers interrupting the interview when the interviewer, Jonatan Viale, pressed Milei on the difference between his personal and presidential account. In a lapse of journalistic integrity, the interviewer apologized, noting that the question could get Milei into legal trouble. Another scandal quickly followed when Hayden Davis, one of the cryptocurrency’s developers, boasted about paying bribes to Karina Milei, the president’s sister and chief of staff, to have Milei support the coin. Davis stated in texts riddled with racist slurs that he controls Milei, and that his sister can get him to sign whatever he says and do whatever he wants.

It remains to be seen whether the opposition can effectively use the scandal to damage Milei politically. Milei is currently hiding from the media spotlight in the United States, while his party managed to get the Senate to dismiss an initial investigation into the scandal.

Meanwhile, outside Argentina, the scandal seems to have sent the Latin American right soul-searching. The endless barrage of social media posts and op-eds since December 2023 arguing that Milei is a model for the Right have suddenly come to a halt. In Chile, the Right has conveniently decided to remain silent, while in Brazil, the Right seems too preoccupied with the coup charges against former president Jair Bolsonaro (not to mention its own cryptocoin scandal) to be worried about the noise next door. Meanwhile, in Colombia, the Right’s 2026 presidential front-runner, Vicky Dávila, initially tried to distance herself from Milei, stating that she has always been critical of the crypto world, but since the scandal has blown over she’s doubled down on her praise of Milei’s model. It’s important to note that Dávila also hired campaign advisers who are connected to Millei through a network of right-wing and libertarian think tanks in the region. The scandal raises the prospect that Milei’s model could be a liability to the Latin American right in various elections that will take place this year and next.

The US right has not shown the same hesitation in regard to Milei. On Thursday, Elon Musk appeared together with Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) wielding a chain saw, a gift from the Argentine president that symbolizes his slashing of state programs like pensions for the elderly and public education. This closeness between the two crypto bros should comes as no surprise. Musk has praised Milei since 2023 and helped promote him to star status in the US media landscape. Furthermore, he has cited Milei’s austerity agenda as the direct inspiration for the Department of Government Efficiency.

The fact that Musk is not distancing himself from Milei when he is under fire for accepting bribes and scamming his base goes to show that the US right doesn’t care about combating corruption or cutting government waste. Rather, it reveals an unwavering commitment to austerity above all else — in Donald Trump and Musk’s case, ripping off normal people under the bizarre pretext of fighting “wokeness” and “DEI.” The far-right political project begins to look like a meme coin swindle. As Milei’s credibility declines both inside and outside Argentina, the austerity politics of the anarcho-capitalist president and his imitators comes into focus as the biggest scam of all.