Almost $58 million in USDC has been frozen in reference to the LIBRA memecoin scandal, deepening the authorized and political fallout from one in every of this 12 months’s greatest crypto scandals.
On Might 29, blockchain analytics agency Arkham reported that Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), froze two Solana (SOL) wallets tied to the LIBRA deployer and venture group. The wallets held a mixed $57.65 million in USDC, which is now motionless. The motion was carried out by Circle’s multisig freeze authority.
The freeze is a part of an ongoing class-action lawsuit filed in March within the Southern District of New York. A whole lot of LIBRA traders are suing Kelsier Ventures, a cryptocurrency enterprise agency, and its co-founders, Gideon, Thomas, and Hayden Davis. The lawsuit was filed by New York-based regulation agency Burwick.
Benjamin Chow, a co-founder of Meteora, Julian Peh of KIP Protocol, and different organizations purportedly concerned within the growth and advertising and marketing of the LIBRA token are among the many different defendants.
The LIBRA token rapidly gained reputation after its February 2025 launch with the assistance of Argentine President Javier Milei’s social media promotion. It was marketed as a strategy to fund small companies in Argentina. In beneath an hour, the token’s worth surged from a couple of cents to over $5, and its market worth surpassed $4 billion.
Nevertheless, insiders who supposedly managed 70% of the provision dumped important quantities inside hours, sending the worth plunging over 90%. Insiders allegedly made greater than $150 million, whereas traders misplaced over $250 million.
The scandal sparked political outrage in Argentina. Requires impeachment adopted President Milei’s elimination of his posts and denial of any involvement. A authorities activity power was established to look into the matter, however Milei disbanded it in Might 19.
The asset freeze implies that American courts could also be ready to take quick motion to forestall additional losses and guarantee potential compensation for victims. If the case is profitable, it’d set a precedent for holding crypto founders and promoters accountable for deceiving the general public and exploiting hype cycles.
