Argentine Federal Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi has ordered an indefinite prohibición de innovar, freezing movable and immovable property and financial assets linked to US crypto entrepreneur Hayden Davis and two alleged intermediaries accused of cashing out investor funds.
Argentina Freezes Funds in $LIBRA Probe After Flagged Post-Meeting Transfer
11 November 2025 - 15:51 CET
By Matt Neill
The order follows a prosecutorial report estimating potential investor losses at $100mn to $120mn, citing wallet activity that investigators say forms part of the suspected money trail, according to La Nacion and other local media reports
Authorities highlighted a $507,500 transfer via Bitget attributed to Davis 42 minutes after President Javier Milei posted a selfie with him. Prosecutors said the timing could indicate possible indirect payments to public officials, the reports show.
The court requested that the National Securities Commission (CNV) notify virtual asset service providers and extend the freeze to all crypto platforms operating in Argentina.
Cross-border case
Prosecutors allege that Colombia’s Favio Camilo Rodriguez Blanco and Argentina’s Orlando Rodolfo Mellino acted as crypto-to-cash ramps in transactions involving Davis and lobbyists Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy.
Local proceedings are running in parallel to a US class action that frames LIBRA and other memecoin launches as part of a coordinated scheme.
In Argentina, filings also reference pre-launch discussions about “monetizing the image of the President,” while the US complaint focuses on the alleged architects behind the token issues.
Milei has denied prior knowledge of the project and removed promotional posts after the token’s collapse.
Fraud enforcement rising
The freeze signals a sharper and faster playbook for cross-border crypto fraud cases in Latin America, with courts now locking assets across exchanges before funds disperse.
The CNV-driven notifications heighten operational and compliance risks for platforms and OTC desks in Argentina, especially around politically exposed persons and on-off-ramp intermediaries.
For market participants, the case underscores the headline risk around political or celebrity-linked token promotions and the growing willingness of prosecutors to connect onchain timing, messaging, and fiat flows into a unified theory of fraud.
