Massive Selloff Hits LIBRA as Insider Trading Allegations Emerge

• LIBRA’s meteoric rise and crash suggest potential insider trading, with a 95% drop after Milei’s tweet deletion.
• Whale-controlled supply and rapid liquidity extraction fueled market manipulation fears, triggering a $100M fund movement.
• Argentina’s government launched an investigation into LIBRA’s transactions amid concerns over investor deception and fraud.

The Solana-based memecoin LIBRA saw a dramatic rise and fall after a tweet from Argentina’s President Javier Milei. The token surged to a $4 billion valuation before plummeting over 95% in under six hours. The deleted tweet raised concerns about possible insider trading and market manipulation , triggering widespread scrutiny.

Whale Concentration and Liquidity Extraction

LIBRA’s token distribution raised immediate red flags. Two addresses controlled 70% of the supply, while another 15% was deposited into the Meteora liquidity pool by the developer. The developer address alone raked in $20 million in trading fees. Additionally, seven addresses received 60 million LIBRA tokens directly from the deployer. Each address later deposited funds into liquidity pools and extracted amounts of SOL and USDC.

Over the past 18 hours, addresses linked to LIBRA moved over $100 million in USDC and SOL into separate wallets. As of now, LIBRA-associated accounts hold $57.6 million in USDC and $48.6 million in SOL. These movements further fueled speculation regarding coordinated liquidity extraction .

Potential Insider Trading and Government Response

Lookonchain identified a trader who used $2.02 million to purchase 5.08 million LIBRA tokens. This trader made a quick $6.72 million post-launch. Additionally, 11 other insider wallets collectively profited $43.8 million. The pattern of early accumulation and strategic selling strongly suggests insider trading activity.

As controversy swelled, Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao cautioned against celebrity-backed crypto projects. His warning echoed concerns about potential fraudulent activities tied to such endorsements. The public backlash intensified after Milei deleted his promotional post, raising questions about government involvement.

The Office of the President quickly responded , clarifying that Milei supports new investments but has no role in LIBRA’s development. They stated that the post was removed to avoid further speculation. However, this move did little to calm concerns.

In response to the situation, Argentina’s government launched an Investigation Task Unit to examine LIBRA’s financial transactions. Authorities will analyze whether investors were misled and if any regulatory violations occurred during the token’s launch .

LIBRA continues to struggle following its collapse. The token currently trades at $0.000676 , with a 1.69% drop in the past 24 hours. Its 24-hour trading volume remains low at $102,349.