Blockchain intelligence platform Bubblemaps and “internet detective” Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findstein have linked LIBRA token and MELANIA to the same team.
In perhaps the culmination of the memecoin craze that has received a new lease of life in recent weeks, over the weekend, Argentina President Javier Milei backed the launch of a so-called LIBRA token geared towards supporting Argentine businesses that quickly left several investors holding the bag.
Amid the fallout of the rather disastrous launch that has brought impeachment calls and a fraud lawsuit to Milei’s doorstep, a new twist has emerged linking the project to the MELANIA memecoin backed by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump
The Same Team?
Blockchain intelligence platform Bubblemaps and “internet detective” Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findstein have linked LIBRA and MELANIA to the same team.
In a Monday, February 17, thread, Bubblemaps linked a wallet tied to MELANIA’s creator and sniping activity to LIBRA. This wallet funded the address of LIBRA’s creator, which pulled over $87 million in liquidity from the project, the blockchain intelligence platform found. It also sniped the token launch for $6 million.
1/ How $LIBRA was created by the same team behind MELANIA and other short-lived coins
Featuring new onchain evidence
A thread with Coffeezilla 🧵 ↓ pic.twitter.com/gNwj97KapF
— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) February 17, 2025
In the context of memecoin launches, sniping refers to quickly buying a token within moments of its launch. It is often controversial as such purchases typically possible with the help of insider knowledge.
Bubblemaps asserted that the MELANIA and LIBRA-linked entity was also likely behind other pump-and-dumps like TRUST, KACY, VIBES, and HOOD.
These findings have largely been corroborated by Crypto key opinion leader (KOL) Kelsier Ventures’ Hayden Davis, who has publicly admitted to being behind the LIBRA token launch alongside Julian Peh of Kip Protocol, Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Godoy, both from Tech Forum Argentina.
In an interview with Coffeezilla, he disclosed that he was involved in the MELANIA token launch but denied being involved with HOOD.
“I was part of it,” Davis said in response to the question of whether he was involved in the MELANIA launch, adding, “I think the team did want to snipe it because of how big the snipe was on TRUMP.”
TRUMP is the memecoin backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, which was launched days before his inauguration.
In the wake of the recent news, MELANIA is trading at the $1.26 price point at the time of writing, representing a 5% decline on the day, but this is more likely part of a broad market correction.
All for the Project?
During the Coffeezilla interview, Kelsier Ventures’ Davis argued that the insider trading activity and even the pulling of liquidity from LIBRA were not for profit but part of a complex strategy to ensure that the token was not immediately crashed by external sniper activity and whales.
In simple terms, he claimed that the team reduced liquidity to prevent whales from being able to unload their clips at once, with plans to eventually reinject the liquidity into the token as marketing efforts took shape. Similarly, he asserted that sniping proceeds also served as an additional treasury to support the project.
Unsurprisingly, most crypto community members are not buying the story, which on its own raises concerns about transparency and market manipulation.
Still, Davis has committed to putting the estimated $100 million taken from LIBRA in his custody back into the project in the next 48 hours.
Milei in Hot Water?
The latest revelation in the LIBRA saga comes as Argentina’s President Milei faces impeachment calls from the opposition in Argentina, who have called his involvement with the project an international embarrassment. At the same time, he also faces a fraud lawsuit over the project.
Milei, on his part, has claimed that he did not have the details of the project and was not involved in the development.
At its peak, LIBRA had a market cap of over $4 billion. However, this metric sits just below $380 million at the time of writing, representing an over 90% decline.
The token crashed in hours as reports of foul play emerged, and Milei pulled his support.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
