Argentina’s order against Hayden Davis marks the latest move in the $250 million Libra fraud probe now spanning courts in Buenos Aires and New York. Argentina’s federal judiciary ordered a freeze of assets belonging to US promoter Hayden Davis and two alleged intermediaries tied to the collapsed Libra token, deepening an investigation into one of Latin America’s biggest crypto scandals. The order, issued by Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, reportedly covers digital wallets, bank accounts and real-estate assets of Davis, Argentine operator Orlando Rodolfo Mellino and Colombian trader Favio Camilo Rodríguez Blanco. Prosecutors said the asset freeze was necessary to prevent any transfer of assets that could represent the proceeds of fraud, as investigators work to trace a money trail estimated to be $100 million to $120 million. Read more
While crypto focuses on US and EU markets, real adoption is happening in Argentina, Nigeria and the Philippines, where digital assets solve survival needs. Opinion by: Maksym Sakharov, group CEO at WeFi The crypto industry has been focused on the same markets: the United States and the European Union. The conversation has mainly concerned regulatory clarity, speculative gains and institutional access, whether Silicon Valley’s venture capital firms or Wall Street’s exchange-traded fund issuers. Unfortunately, this fixation is blinding much of the industry to a more pressing reality, where the future of crypto adoption isn’t in New York, London or Brussels, but rather in Lagos, Buenos Aires and Manila. Read more
US steps in with a lifeline as Argentina battles peso turmoil, investor flight and President Javier Milei’s waning credibility. Crypto adoption surges. As Argentina grapples with soaring inflation and a run on the peso that has battered domestic asset prices, the United States has stepped in with the promise of a financial lifeline — though Bitcoin proponents remain skeptical it will make a difference. The peso tumbled roughly 4.5% last week as investors questioned President Javier Milei’s ability to deliver fiscal and structural reforms following his party’s poor showing in Buenos Aires provincial elections earlier this month. The sell-off was compounded by a corruption investigation involving a family member of Milei, deepening political uncertainty. Investor unease triggered heavy outflows from Argentine markets. The central bank was forced to spend about $1.1 billion over three days to defend the peso — a hefty sum given that the country holds only about $20 billion in liquid foreign reserves, according t...
Saifedean Ammous warned Argentina’s high-yield bond strategy is unsustainable, calling it a “Ponzi” that could push investors toward Bitcoin as the peso crumbles. Economist and author of “The Bitcoin Standard,” Saifedean Ammous, warned that Argentina’s financial system is on the brink of collapse, calling President Javier Milei’s economic program a “debt and inflation Ponzi” propped up by unsustainable bond yields and money printing. In a post on X, Ammous argued that Argentina’s government has created a financial system where bond speculation is the only path to financial security. “The only concrete achievement of his administration so far is that it destroyed the currency and created a shitcoin casino,” he said. At the center of the crisis is what locals call “la bicicleta financiera,” a high-yield carry trade where investors buy short-term government bonds that offer interest rates exceeding the pace of peso devaluation. According to Ammous, this setup, which has become the country’s most lucrative indust...