Argentine federal judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi on Oct. 23 dismissed the LIBRA memecoin criminal case against President Javier Milei, presidential Secretary-General Karina Milei and nine others, including Kelsier Ventures’ Hayden Davis, ruling that the events fit no crime.
Granting federal prosecutor Eduardo Taiano‘s request, the judge found his opinion properly grounded in the evidence and, absent any independent accusation, ruled as asked, according to an Unchained translation of the 60-page decision. The dismissal cites article 336, section 3 of Argentina’s national code of criminal procedure and adds the standard line that the proceedings leave the reputations of those investigated intact. None of the 11 was ever formally questioned as a suspect.
The ruling, which circulated through Argentine media, had not been posted on the judiciary’s official website as of Friday evening.
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Why the Judge Found No Crime
On fraud, the judge granted that a sitting president’s backing could lend a project unusual reach and sway how far some buyers trusted it, but wrote, per the Unchained translation, that this did not necessarily mean anyone was given a false picture of reality. He also cautioned against inferring fraud only from the final split of gains and losses, and agreed with Taiano that the record did not establish any criminally relevant deception.
He found no official act tied to the project and no use of public resources, rejecting the claims of abuse of authority and negotiations incompatible with public office against Javier Milei. As for Karina Milei, he wrote that the evidence did not establish any concrete illicit exchange, or that she had acted as a paid go-between for access to her brother, the accusation two opposition lawmakers made in the original complaint.
Ruling Not Yet Final
The decision orders the file archived only once final. The judge removed five investors as private plaintiffs on July 3; a federal appeals panel upheld that on Sept. 4. On Sept. 16, they asked the federal criminal cassation court to reinstate them. Unchained could not confirm the outcome or whether anyone will appeal.
The 2025 Collapse
Milei promoted LIBRA in a Feb. 14, 2025, X post as a private project to fund small Argentine businesses. The token’s market cap peaked at $4.56 billion that night and was down more than 94% within 11 hours of its debut, Cointelegraph reported, drawing on Dexscreener data. Milei deleted the post and wrote hours later that he had no connection to the venture and had not known its details.
In May 2025, Circle froze $57 million in USDC linked to the scandal. A New York federal judge on Sept. 29 dismissed with prejudice an investor lawsuit against Kelsier Labs, Davis and others.
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