Risk Alert | A Look at the “Politicized” Cryptocurrency Scams Through LIBRA
Author | Lisa
Editor | Liz
Background
In recent years, an increasing number of politicians have ventured into the cryptocurrency space, issuing digital currencies under the banner of “national economic revival” or “innovation.” By leveraging the “celebrity effect,” they aim to endorse tokens and promote the adoption of cryptocurrencies. While these tokens are often branded as economic reform and technological innovation, they frequently conceal significant risks, turning into “wealth traps” for speculators and ordinary investors alike. From the TRUMP token launched by the Trump family to the recently controversial LIBRA, these politicized cryptocurrencies have undoubtedly become market focal points. However, they have also introduced notable security risks and potential financial crises.
As a company dedicated to blockchain security, we will take LIBRA as an example to uncover the hidden risks of these politicized cryptocurrency projects and provide users with clearer security warnings.
The “Politicized” Cryptocurrency — LIBRA
On February 15, Argentine President Milei launched a Memecoin called LIBRA, claiming that the initiative would help revive Argentina’s economy, and announced the related contract address. Following the announcement, numerous Memecoin enthusiasts rushed to participate in the project, causing LIBRA’s price to skyrocket, with its market capitalization briefly approaching $5 billion. However, just hours after the token’s launch, the project withdrew liquidity, leading to a sharp market cap drop to $590 million and significant losses for investors. After the incident, Milei deleted promotional tweets related to the project and claimed to be unaware of the specific details of LIBRA, further stating that an anti-corruption investigation would be initiated. As the situation unfolded, not only did lawyers file fraud allegations against Milei, but political opposition also called for his impeachment trial.
According to the analysis conducted by MistTrack, an on-chain anti-money laundering and tracking tool, eight wallets associated with the LIBRA team have collectively profited over $100 million. The details are as follows:
Address 1 — DefcyKc4yAjRsCLZjdxWuSUzVohXtLna9g22y3pBCm2z
On 2025–02–14 at 21:36:54 (UTC), this address withdrew 10.89 SOL from FixedFloat as its initial funding and had also withdrawn SOL from Kraken.
From 2025–02–14 21:37:49 to 2025–02–14 21:38:02 (UTC), a new SPL Token named LIBRA (Bo9jh3wsmcC2AjakLWzNmKJ3SgtZmXEcSaW7L2FAvUsU) was created, followed by the minting of 1 billion SPL Tokens.
On 2025–02–14 at 21:38:48 (UTC), within the same transaction, 200 million LIBRA were transferred to the address Gj9esbWVNJyy55SDJzYudMAznewqmW3Xb6GpUakcCNwT, with no further transfers observed so far. Additionally, 500 million LIBRA were transferred to the address FdWhTThthSN7mbcmBgh18dzogi1dXqQqBb6BnnzZEJJn, which ultimately settled at the address 42rex5yRsP1mdAKHzB5avDzagT6mqB5uYPergUFZ2Tgn.
From 2025–02–14 21:40:24 to 2025–02–14 21:52:20 (UTC), the DLMM Config and Token Metadata were created.
At 22:01, a tweet was posted. At 22:04, relevant accounts were created, and LIBRA was transferred.
Profiting Address 1 gained approximately 13.06 million USDC through claimFee and has not transferred it out yet.
Additionally, Profiting Address 1 transferred 650,000 LIBRA at 22:30:34 to the address 3apupKwTisjy4Wx1zVndXVegmxtR9majPEgHatBRZ1LF, whose ownership remains unknown.
Address 2–2QmyirshoyT2ApsQU8bXdeGa2vTsNp1rxEzv4qhzTwyh
Profited approximately 32,052 SOL, valued at around $6.4 million, and has not transferred it out yet.
This address had previously withdrawn SOL from Kraken.
Address 3 — BXoCWWijZiVQFXNRqcZAiHQroYkaUnjkRznnZrt9gj42
Profited approximately 148,343 SOL, valued at around $28.84 million.
This address transferred 148,343 SOL to the address B9KTwxhc9e6qrjw5nfmhgcN38oKFTBtnef8AwaTPVQ6q, which has not yet transferred it out.
Additionally, the initial funding of this address came from 1 SOL transferred from the address HnnQaCzoFBSkT1xgksM6biyAZSyZgiorYsE6ZKDHC2rs. The address HnnQ also transferred 1 SOL to Profiting Address 4, and its initial funding originated from Coinbase.
Address 4 — jwudCiJ5QUUmfxPXN41jaqYKnSc3UmKo5RoRGkZzomN
Profited approximately 69,276 SOL, valued at around $13.47 million.
This address transferred 69,276 SOL to the address FTjLYkNARZHnqekpKj5mHzbJx7EqW1fSr15Ec4oijBUQ, which has not yet transferred it out. The initial funding of address FTjL came from 0.14 SOL transferred by the address CuJgNwudFRikz1e82Rug6CNtxfoery8qBRUGPtSx5KVi.
Notably, the initial funding for the address CuJgNwudFRikz1e82Rug6CNtxfoery8qBRUGPtSx5KVi came from Bybit. This address also provided funding for the deployment of the Memecoin MELANIA, launched by Trump’s wife, Melania.
Address 5–5Wsjee6FgZQtxjUBedfNq9ZbV6RN7wgb4N422LyV3ZEr
Profited approximately 1.85 million USDC.
This address had previously withdrawn SOL from Kraken.
The USDC, after multiple transfers, ultimately remained at the address 61yKS9bjxWdqNgAHt439DfoNfwK3uKPAJGWAsFkC5M4C. Additionally, we found that other USDC sources for address 61yK include transfers from Profiting Addresses 6, 7, and 8, with a current total balance of 44.59 million USDC.
Address 6 — EFrg9SXbnCfuVqJPJf2hKKY3CtTPLHvipEpgrHjBkb4L
Profited approximately 7.25 million USDC, which was transferred to the address 61yKS9bjxWdqNgAHt439DfoNfwK3uKPAJGWAsFkC5M4C. Additionally, the SOL for Address 6 originated from Kraken.
Address 7–8NScYncjpY1mKrbxVJFFdVqNPEocyXTnQqy9GW1hg4j3
Profited approximately 26.43 million USDC, which was transferred to the address 61yKS9bjxWdqNgAHt439DfoNfwK3uKPAJGWAsFkC5M4C. Additionally, the SOL for Address 7 originated from Kraken.
Address 8–5fnahDWBtUB8QBTXWHm2QzfAoAVHToxvMf38i3a7okGe
Profited approximately 9 million USDC, which was transferred to the address 61yKS9bjxWdqNgAHt439DfoNfwK3uKPAJGWAsFkC5M4C. Additionally, the SOL for Address 8 originated from Kraken.
As a newly launched project, LIBRA has not undergone any market audit, nor does it have a publicly available technical whitepaper or compliance guarantees, making it lack fundamental value support. Notably, some media outlets have pointed out that Milei’s social media accounts have a history of controversial statements, and this latest activity might be the result of hacking. Furthermore, some users have revealed that crypto influencer Threadguy admitted during a live stream that he had known about the LIBRA token launch weeks in advance, raising suspicions of insider trading. This has further clouded the legitimacy and safety of this “token launch operation.” Additionally, there are allegations that one of Milei’s close associates received a $5 million bribe to bring this token project to the president’s attention, resulting in the president endorsing LIBRA. All these issues expose the potential manipulation and lack of transparency behind politicians launching cryptocurrencies and highlight the core problem of inadequate regulation surrounding such projects.
The Risks Behind Celebrity Endorsements
Milei is not the first politician to venture into the world of cryptocurrencies. In January 2025, Donald Trump also launched a Memecoin called TRUMP, leveraging his personal brand to successfully create a market frenzy. On its launch day, $TRUMP’s market value skyrocketed by 1250%, with trading volume exceeding $5 billion.
The FOMO sentiment among users regarding $TRUMP also led to new scams. An X account named @TrumpDailyPosts, which has over 1.6 million followers, not only reposted Trump’s posts from Truth Social to Twitter but also published news and tweets related to Trump. According to SlowMist’s security team analysis, this account issued at least four tweets promoting Memecoins. These tweets were deleted just minutes after posting, and only accounts mentioned in the tweets were allowed to comment.
The Trump family’s ventures into cryptocurrency have not been without controversy. As previously mentioned, the launch of MELANIA, a token introduced by Trump’s wife, Melania, caused the price of TRUMP to plummet by half. MELANIA’s market value evaporated by $7.5 billion within just 10 minutes, resulting in significant financial losses for investors. Although the Trump family claimed these initiatives were intended to “support cryptocurrency innovation,” such tokens often lack intrinsic value, relying heavily on celebrity appeal to generate hype. Without a clear assessment of the project’s real value, these tokens are vulnerable to rapid devaluation once market interest fades. This leaves ordinary investors with significant losses — glamorous on the surface, but fraught with hidden risks.
Politicized cryptocurrencies do not equate to economic innovation; they are often merely tools for diverting attention and grabbing headlines.
In February 2025, Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra launched a Memecoin called CAR, claiming that it would drive national development through cryptocurrency. However, an investigation by the SlowMist security team revealed that CAR’s official website had been registered for only four days, with 80% of the tokens concentrated in six interconnected addresses. These funds originated from Binance and lacked both security audits and technical backing.
In the same month, the social media account @chedetofficial, belonging to Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, also posted a tweet announcing the launch of $MALAYSIA, which was suspected to have been the result of a hacking incident.
Using MistTrack for tracing, we discovered that the creator of the CA (smart contract address) posted by this account had links to historically malicious groups.
By February 17, a fake X account claiming to represent a Saudi Crown Prince official had been consistently posting tweets about Memecoins:
In addition to the aforementioned “token issuance” incidents, some politicians have attempted to use cryptocurrency mining as a means to boost fiscal revenue, with Iran being one such example. The Iranian government announced the legalization of domestic cryptocurrency mining operations, aiming to generate additional foreign exchange income for the country. However, this initiative failed to effectively alleviate Iran’s economic challenges. Instead, due to a lack of proper regulation and policy safeguards, it resulted in significant resource wastage and illegal electricity consumption, ultimately further damaging the government’s credibility on the international stage.
These types of tokens often see their prices manipulated and inflated during the initial stages through speculation and capital control. However, once the market bubble bursts, investors frequently bear the brunt of the losses. We’ve witnessed cases where investors were liquidated in an extremely short period, suffering devastating financial losses. This vicious cycle not only tarnishes the reputation of the cryptocurrency market but also poses a substantial threat to the wealth of ordinary investors.
Be Wary of “Politicized” Cryptocurrency Scams
Cryptocurrency innovation should be built on a foundation of transparency and fair regulatory frameworks, rather than being exploited as a tool for politicians to leverage personal influence and fuel speculative hype. While celebrity endorsements may attract a surge of investors in the short term, these projects often lack real value support. Moreover, such initiatives are typically unaudited, unregulated, and without reliable technical backing. In this context, investors who blindly follow the hype are left vulnerable to severe losses when market sentiment shifts, as token prices quickly collapse, leaving ordinary investors as the biggest victims.
We urge users to remain vigilant when encountering such projects. Carefully evaluate their authenticity and safety from multiple angles to avoid blindly following trends. Opt for platforms that have undergone rigorous audits and comply with regulations. To better safeguard your assets, users can utilize professional on-chain tracking tools like MistTrack (https://misttrack.io/) to monitor and analyze fund movements. MistTrack empowers users to track transactions in real time and analyze the flow of funds, helping to mitigate the risks of scams or rug pull incidents while ensuring greater asset security.
About SlowMist
SlowMist is a blockchain security firm established in January 2018. The firm was started by a team with over ten years of network security experience to become a global force. Our goal is to make the blockchain ecosystem as secure as possible for everyone. We are now a renowned international blockchain security firm that has worked on various well-known projects such as HashKey Exchange, OSL, MEEX, BGE, BTCBOX, Bitget, BHEX.SG, OKX, Binance, HTX, Amber Group, Crypto.com, etc.
SlowMist offers a variety of services that include but are not limited to security audits, threat information, defense deployment, security consultants, and other security-related services. We also offer AML (Anti-money laundering) software, MistEye (Security Monitoring) , SlowMist Hacked (Crypto hack archives), FireWall.x (Smart contract firewall) and other SaaS products. We have partnerships with domestic and international firms such as Akamai, BitDefender, RC², TianJi Partners, IPIP, etc. Our extensive work in cryptocurrency crime investigations has been cited by international organizations and government bodies, including the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
By delivering a comprehensive security solution customized to individual projects, we can identify risks and prevent them from occurring. Our team was able to find and publish several high-risk blockchain security flaws. By doing so, we could spread awareness and raise the security standards in the blockchain ecosystem.
