Argentine president Javier Milei denied promoting a newly launched cryptocurrency which collapsed shortly after having mentioned it in an article on social networks on Friday.
Cryptocoin $ libra quickly increased before the dive, causing serious losses to the majority of people who had invested there.
A judge will now determine whether the president should face accusations of fraud on the incident.
Milei said on Monday that he had acted “in good faith” and had rejected the complaints of investors, comparing their actions to people who play: “If you go to a casino and lose money, what Plain when you know the risks? “
President Milei spoke of the $ Balance incident in an interview with the Argentine television channel Todo Noticias on Monday, after a weekend during which he remained unusually silent on social networks.
He insisted on the fact that his message on X, which contained a link to a selling site $ libra, did not constitute approval.
“I did not promote it, I simply shared it,” he told Jonny Viale de Todo Nottias.
The post of Milei, which he suppressed after only a few hours, aroused strong criticism not only from his political rivals in Argentina, but also of those who had invested in the cryptocurrency.
Some have argued that the launch of $ balance looked like a “carpet traction” – where the promoters attract buyers, only to stop negotiation activities and carry out with the money collected from sales.
The presidential office insisted that Milei was in no way involved in the development of $ Balance and announced that the anti-corruption office would determine if the president had acted badly.
Milei himself defended by removing his post, saying that when he did not know “the details of the project and after learning about it, I decided not to continue to promote it”.
Opposition politicians, however, have not been appeased by declarations, threatening to start the procedures for indictment against Milei.
While political analysts point out that the opposition is unlikely to get the necessary votes for an indictment trial to continue, the scandal threatens to divert Milei’s attention from its radical reform program.
A federal judge was responsible for deciding whether the allegations of fraud brought against the president by a number of complainants should go ahead.
In his television interview, Milei appeared combative, stressing that he had “nothing to hide”.
He also said that those who had invested in $ Balance had done so “voluntarily” and knew the risks.
“It’s like playing Russian roulette and getting the ball.”