Javier Milei used to call the central bank a “scam.” He’s now being sued for allegedly encouraging a fraud of his own. Argentina’s Bitcoiner presidential candidate is being sued over allegedly encouraging a crypto Ponzi scheme.
Javier Milei is a leading contender for Argentina’s next president. Last year posted an Instagram message to his 1.3million followers. It promoted CoinX, a cryptocurrency investment platform promising huge returns.
The platform closed in June and had a large social media following. It claimed that it used AI, bots and expert traders to automate trades and make investors lots of money.
Milei visited their Buenos Aires offices in December. He wrote that they are “revolutionizing the way to insulate to help Argentinians with inflation.” You can now make a profit by simulating your investment in dollars, pesos or cryptocurrencies.
After the CNV warned , the regulatory National Securities Commission (CNV ) closed down CoinX’s operations and ordered it to cease all activities. Local media reported that it hadn’t returned investors the expected returns.
A group of disgruntled supporters are now seeking damages after they ignored Milei’s advice but didn’t see huge returns. The Argentine daily newspaper Clarin reported this weekend.
Juan Pablo Chiesa filed the complaint stating that investors are out of pocket at least 30 to 40 million pesos (nearly 300,000).
Milei, a 51-year-old Libertarian economist who supports Bitcoin, once called central bank “a fraud” and has since distanced hisself from the platform, claiming he didn’t trick anyone, and wasn’t paid to promote CoinX.
He is an eccentric congressman who posts regularly on social media and says that he wants to save Argentina from the worst levels of inflation. He’s doing well. Some polls have him among the top three candidates for next year’s election.
He is unlikely to get any favors by appearing in Instagram posts that include crypto platforms.
