LatinNews Daily - 17 March 2026

*The congressional commission tasked with investigating Argentina’s $Libra cryptocurrency scandal has announced that it will file a complaint against federal prosecutor Eduardo Taiano before the public prosecutor’s office disciplinary tribunal to have him removed from the case. The commission, which is made up of opposition legislators, began work in August last year, investigating the case which saw President Javier Milei promote the cryptocurrency $Libra on social media in February 2025, leading thousands to invest in the coin only for it to plunge in value shortly after, in what was widely viewed as a ‘rug-pull’ scam. The commission announced it would initiate a formal inquiry into President Javier Milei’s cabinet chief, Manuel Adorni, and his sister and the general secretary to the presidency, Karina Milei. This follows media reports claiming that evidence recovered from the phone of Mauricio Gaspar Novelli, who is believed to have introduced the president to the cryptocurrency developers, showed he had spoken with President Milei and other high-ranking officials on the day of the launch of the cryptocurrency, both before the launch and minutes after. The commission is also requesting, through formal inquiries, that President Milei, Karina Milei, presidential adviser Santiago Caputo, and former adviser Demian Reidel provide explanations regarding the content of their telephone conversations with Novelli on the day of the $Libra launch. “We are facing a case of corruption involving millions of dollars and an abuse of presidential authority that is of enormous institutional gravity,” wrote federal deputy Maximiliano Ferraro, the president of the $Libra commission, on social media, saying evidence had shown that, “there was direct coordination between fringe operators in the crypto world and the inner circle of the President of the Nation, who used his office and power to promote the cryptocurrency in exchange for millions in payments.”

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