Investor appeals Milei dismissal in ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency case

Juan Patricio Marchetto is appealing Federal Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi’s decision to dismiss and archive the investigation into the $LIBRA collapse. The ruling accepted prosecutor Eduardo Taiano’s request to end proceedings against President Javier Milei, Karina Milei, and nine other defendants. None had been formally summoned as suspects.

Marchetto argues that the court treated insufficient evidence as proof that no crime occurred. His appeal asks for closer examination of communications, cryptocurrency transactions, the presidential post, fund destinations, and electronic devices. He says these elements should be assessed together, not separately.

The case is not automatically reopened. Marchetto was removed as a private prosecutor, and that decision is under review by Argentina’s Federal Court of Criminal Cassation. If the court recognises his legal standing, a higher court could review the dismissal before the case becomes final.

A memecoin is a cryptocurrency token whose appeal is often driven by internet attention, public promotion, and speculation rather than an established service. That definition comes from general cryptocurrency knowledge; the article focuses on the investigation rather than defining the term. Memecoins can attract buyers quickly when influential people promote them.

The $LIBRA token’s value surged after President Javier Milei promoted it in a post on X on 14 February 2025. The post included the code needed to purchase the token. The price then collapsed, leaving investors alleging they had been defrauded and raising questions about how the launch was organised.

The article does not provide the token’s exact peak price, total loss, or timing of the collapse. It reports that the events led to an investigation of suspected fraud and possible financial offences. The dismissal is now being challenged by an investor who lost money.

The appeal points to approximately US$13.5 million in cryptocurrency transactions as a central reason the investigation should continue. Marchetto says the pattern could help establish whether the token launch involved coordination between people behind the project and President Javier Milei.

The filing identifies 87 transactions across 74 cryptocurrency wallets. They were recorded seconds before Milei shared the code that allowed people to purchase the $LIBRA token. That timing matters because the transactions occurred immediately before a presidential promotion that preceded the token’s value surge.

The figures do not by themselves prove who controlled the wallets or whether a crime occurred. Marchetto wants investigators to examine the transactions alongside telephone records, the presidential post, the destination of the funds, and forensic examinations of electronic devices. The judge nevertheless dismissed the case at this stage.

Marchetto’s appeal says two kinds of evidence could connect Milei to the token’s launch: communications and financial activity. He argues that neither should be considered in isolation because their timing may show whether the people behind $LIBRA coordinated with the President.

According to the filing, telephone records show that businessman Mauricio Novelli made three calls to Milei and received another call from the President in the minutes before Milei posted on X. The appeal also identifies 87 transactions across 74 wallets, involving about US$13.5 million, seconds before Milei shared the purchase code.

Marchetto says the court should investigate these links together with the token’s sharp rise and collapse. He also seeks examination of where the funds went and completion of forensic work on electronic devices linked to other figures. The ruling found grounds to dismiss the proceedings instead.

If a higher court overturns the dismissal, the investigation could continue rather than being definitively archived. Prosecutors and investigators could examine whether the $LIBRA launch involved fraud or other financial offences, and whether Milei’s promotion was coordinated with people connected to the project.

The reopened work could include reviewing telephone records, tracing the destination of approximately US$13.5 million, and completing forensic examinations of electronic devices. It could also revisit transactions across 74 wallets and the communications between Milei and Mauricio Novelli before the presidential post.

For investors, renewed proceedings could offer a path toward clarifying what happened, but the article does not state that losses would be recovered. For defendants, including Milei, Karina Milei, and other cleared figures, the dismissal would no longer be final. The court’s decision would mean further investigation, not a finding of guilt.

A private prosecutor is a person who participates in criminal proceedings to pursue a case alongside public authorities. Marchetto’s status matters because a court generally needs an authorised participant with legal standing to challenge a dismissal. Without that status, his appeal may be rejected before its evidence arguments are examined.

Marchetto was previously removed from the proceedings as a private prosecutor, and a federal court upheld that decision. He nevertheless filed a 40-page appeal through lawyers Juan Grabois and Nicolás Rechanik, challenging the judge’s and prosecutor’s handling of the case.

His standing remains under review by Argentina’s Federal Court of Criminal Cassation. If that court recognises his right to challenge the ruling, a higher court could review the dismissal. If not, the appeal’s substance may never receive that review, and the case could proceed toward definitive closure.

A cryptocurrency wallet is an account or address used to hold and transfer digital tokens. A token launch creates the asset and records purchases and transfers on a blockchain. The blockchain’s transaction history can preserve timestamps, wallet addresses, amounts, and links between movements, making the financial sequence available for investigation.

For example, investigators could compare the 87 transactions across 74 wallets with the timing of Milei’s post. They could follow transfers from buying wallets to later destinations and examine whether funds were divided, consolidated, or moved onward. These records could be matched with telephone records, exchange information, and device evidence.

Blockchain records do not automatically reveal a wallet owner or prove criminal conduct. Investigators need additional evidence to connect an address to a person. In this case, Marchetto specifically called for tracing the funds and completing forensic examinations of electronic devices linked to other figures.