TL;DR
- A NY judge denied the seizure of LIBRA assets requested by international investment funds.
- The court determined there is insufficient evidence that the funds belong to the Argentine State.
- The ruling suggests the funds could be controlled by Javier Milei, his sister, or promoter Hayden Davis.
A new and dramatic chapter has been added to the LIBRA meme coin scandal in New York. We are talking about the digital asset linked to the circle of Argentine President Javier Milei.
A US federal court rejected a seizure request filed by international investment funds that sought to link LIBRA’s crypto assets directly to the Argentine State.
Judge Jennifer Rochon, from the Southern District of New York, ruled that the evidence presented was insufficient to prove state ownership of the funds.
However, the ruling further complicates the situation for the Argentine president. Judge Rochon noted that the evidence, rather than pointing to the State, suggests that the millions generated by LIBRA could belong to private individuals: specifically, Milei himself, his sister and Secretary General, Karina Milei, or Hayden Mark Davis, the promoter who helped launch the coin.
This decision frustrates the funds’ attempt to locate assets to collect on a historic debt stemming from Argentina’s 2001 economic crisis.
The Creditors’ Failed Strategy
The seizure request was a calculated move by four large investment funds (Palladian Partners, HBK Master Fund, Hirsh Group, and Virtual Emerald International Limited). These funds hold bonds linked to Argentina’s GDP, part of the debt restructuring following the 2001 sovereign default.
In 2023, a UK court ruled in their favor in a lawsuit, ordering Argentina to pay over $1.5 billion. Since the country has not paid, the creditors saw the LIBRA scandal, a high-value asset promoted by Milei, as a collection opportunity.
For the US court to not reject the LIBRA seizure (or rather, to approve it), the funds needed to prove that the token’s profits belonged to the State. However, their effort was counterproductive.
Judge Rochon not only rejected the petition for lack of credible evidence but also criticized the funds for engaging in a “fishing excursion,” accusing them of using the court for a speculative investigation. In the end, the decision denying the seizure to the creditors reinforces the theory that the LIBRA funds are under private control—a central fact in the civil lawsuit Milei faces from retail investors.
