Lawmakers in Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies backed an investigation into President Javier Milei’s alleged involvement in the Libra (LIBRA) cryptocurrency scandal.

According to an April 8 report by local news outlet Buenos Aires Times, deputies in the lower house voted 128 to 93 in favor, with seven abstentions. The same proposal previously failed to move forward in the Senate.

The news follows Milei promoting the LIBRA memecoin on social media. With the Argentine president leveraging his credibility as a government official and his 3.8 million followers, the token quickly reached $5, briefly touching a market cap of $4 billion.

Milei has since faced accusations of wrongdoing, with critics claiming that LIBRA was a rug-pull scam and that he lured investors in. Lawyer Jonatan Baldiviezo, alongside Marcos Zelaya, engineer María Eva Koutsovitis and economist Claudio Lozano, a former head of Argentina’s central bank, filed a lawsuit against Milei, accusing him of fraud.

Related: KIP Protocol reveals involvement in Javier Milei-endorsed Libra rug pull

A presidential-scale disaster

According to Baldiviezo, Milei’s promotion was instrumental in an “illicit association” with the promoters of the cryptocurrency. The non-governmental organization Observatorio del Derecho a la Ciudad shared the concerns and filed a case that accused the president of promoting a scheme that reportedly resulted in over 40,000 investors losing more than $4 billion.

February onchain data showed that the hardest hit investors of the LIBRA memecoin pump and dump scheme lost a combined $251 million. Blockchain data shows that of the 15,430 wallets that sold at a profit or loss of more than $1,000, over 86% of those sold at a loss, resulting in a total of $251 million lost.

Despite numerous sources showing his social media posts, in mid-February, Milei denied claims that he promoted LIBRA. He said at the time:

“I did not promote that. What I did, I spread the word.”

Related: Javier Milei risks impeachment after endorsing $107M Libra rug pull

A reported family business

One of the creators behind the controversial Libra crypto token reportedly sent a text message bragging about being able to pay Argentine President Javier Milei’s sister in exchange for the president sharing the memecoin’s details on social media. According to February reports, Hayden Davis — a person connected to the project — sent a message to a crypto investment firm executive saying that he could pay Karina Milei for “control” over the Argentine president:

“We can also have Milei tweet and meet in person and do promo. […] I send $$ to his sister and he does whatever I say and does what I want.”

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The next generation of cryptocurrency projects must embrace a more collaborative approach to compete with major centralized tech companies entering the Web3 space, according to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.

Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week 2025, Hoskinson said one of the main criticisms of the crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) space is its “circular economy,” which often means that the rally of a specific cryptocurrency is bolstered by funds exiting another token, limiting the growth of the industry.

Hoskinsin said that to have a chance against the centralized technology giants joining the Web3 industry, cryptocurrency projects need more collaborative tokenomics and market structure.

Charles Hoskinson. Source: Cointelegraph

“The problem right now, with the way we’ve done things in the cryptocurrency space, is the tokenomics and the market structure are intrinsically adversarial. It’s sum 0,” said Hoskinson. “Instead of picking a fight, what you have to do is you have to find tokenomics and market structure that allows you to be in a cooperative equilibrium.”

He argued that the current environment often sees one crypto project’s growth come at the expense of another rather than contributing to the sector’s overall health. He added that this is not sustainable in the face of trillion-dollar firms like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, which may soon join the Web3 race amid clearer US regulations.

“You can’t build a global ecosystem this way, and you can’t win this way,” he said. “Because here’s the thing. The incumbents are much larger.”

Related: Bitcoin ETFs lose $326M amid ‘evolving’ dynamic with TradFi markets

Hoskinson’s comments came as the industry awaits progress on US stablecoin legislation, which may come in the next two months.

A secondary bill, the GENIUS Act — an acronym for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins — would establish collateralization guidelines for stablecoin issuers while requiring full compliance with Anti-Money Laundering laws.

Related: Cardano’s Plomin hard fork sets stage for full decentralized governance

Crypto faces Big Tech’s regulatory tailwind

More participation from tech giants is likely after the stablecoin bill is passed. The markets structure bill may pass by September, Hoskinson said, adding:

“These are the barriers that, once removed, mean that Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Apple and others enter the cryptocurrency space and tell me who owns their platforms. They do. That’s three billion users.”

“So if those barriers are removed, how do we, as an industry, compete against the wallet that Apple built in bundles with the iPhone,” he said, adding that crypto also needs to build infrastructure that the incoming tech giants can leverage.

Aiming to align blockchain network incentives, Cardano has been working on “Minotaur,” a multi-resource consensus protocol that combines multiple consensus mechanisms and networks to pay a unified block reward to multiple networks at the same time.

“You pay in the currency you want, and multiple networks are involved in securing the system and have a financial incentive to keep the system around,” Hoskinson said.

Magazine: Charles Hoskinson, Cardano and Ethereum – for the record

The evolving relationship between Bitcoin and traditional financial markets is under renewed pressure as global investors flee risk assets amid intensifying US trade tensions.

US-listed spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their fourth consecutive day of outflows on April 8, with more than $326 million in net redemptions across products, according to data from Farside Investors.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) saw the largest sell-off of over $252 million, its biggest daily outflow since Feb. 26.

Bitcoin ETF flows, US dollars, millions. Source: Farside Investors

The selling pressure follows US President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of sweeping reciprocal import tariffs, which triggered a historic $5 trillion wipeout in the S&P 500 over two days.

Related: Bitcoin may rival gold as inflation hedge over next decade — Adam Back

The delayed crypto market turbulence after the tariff-related sell-off in traditional markets highlights Bitcoin’s “evolving relationship with traditional markets,” according to Lennix Lai, global chief commercial officer at OKX exchange.

Lai told Cointelegraph:

“While falling 26% since January’s inauguration, Bitcoin’s relative resilience in the first two days following the tariff announcement — dropping 6% compared to Nasdaq’s 11% decline — suggests a nuanced dynamic emerging between crypto and conventional assets.”

Bitcoin initially remained firmly above the $82,000 support level but plummeted below $75,000 on Sunday, April 6.

BTC/USD, 1-year chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

Some industry leaders attributed Sunday’s sell-off to Bitcoin’s 24/7 liquidity mechanics, which made BTC the only large liquid asset available for de-risking over the weekend.

Related: Bitcoin price can hit $250K in 2025 if Fed shifts to QE: Arthur Hayes

Bitcoin remains tied to global liquidity conditions

While there is an “encouraging sign” of a weakening correlation between Bitcoin and equities, Bitcoin’s price trajectory remains tied to global liquidity conditions, Lai said, adding:

“Though I see early signs of divergence, I believe Bitcoin remains fundamentally tied to global liquidity conditions, warranting caution amid potential market stresses — whilst gold remains as a hedge against geopolitical instability.”

“What’s most significant here isn’t just price action but Bitcoin’s growing conceptual influence — people increasingly view it as a valid strategic reserve asset for diversification in chaotic traditional markets,” Lai added.

Other analysts also see the growing money supply as Bitcoin’s main catalyst.

“Bitcoin trades solely based on the market expectation for the future supply of fiat,” according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer of Maelstrom.

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