A federal judge in Argentina, Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, has issued a ruling freezing 25 cryptocurrency wallets directly linked to the high-profile LIBRA token case. Simultaneously, the court ordered six international crypto exchanges to provide full identification information about the owners of these addresses and a detailed history of all transactions.
This decision was made at the request of prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, who based his arguments on a technical report from the cybercrime division of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA). This represents an unprecedented step, demonstrating that the Argentine judiciary intends to actively use blockchain analytics tools to investigate complex financial crimes in the digital environment.
Details of the Court Order and List of Platforms
The asset freeze affected wallets on several major trading platforms. The list includes ten addresses on Binance, eight on Bybit, two each on OKX, CoinEx, and Bitfinex, and one address on the FixedFloat platform. The judge has demanded that each of these exchanges provide a complete data package according to KYC standards: account opening documents, internal records, IP address logs, linked bank accounts, and a comprehensive history of fund movements.
The key motivation for such stringent measures was the lack of a clear regulator for the cryptocurrency market in Argentina. The ruling emphasizes that this is necessary to prevent irreparable damage — the freeze is intended to stop the possible concealment or withdrawal of assets that may be deemed proceeds of crime. The judge specifically noted the preventive nature of the decision, stating that "the freeze must stop possible new crimes during the investigation."
Timeline of the LIBRA Collapse: From Rise to Fall
The police technical report played a key role, reconstructing the movement of funds using reverse tracing and open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysis. According to the investigation, assets flowed out of a group of wallets called "Team Libra Wallets." Between February 14 and 15, 2025, millions of tokens were transferred from them, which then ended up in a common intermediate wallet.
Subsequently, the investigation recorded a large withdrawal of funds. On May 10, 2026, 498,539.85 USDT arrived in a wallet on the Tron network via a compatibility protocol. Notably, the transaction was completed in just 16 seconds without the involvement of a traditional exchange, indicating a high level of technical skill on the part of the organizers. After this, a smurfing scheme was launched — the daily distribution of fragmented sums across multiple wallets to hinder tracking.
As a reminder, it all began with a post by President Javier Milei on social network X on February 14, 2025. Following this, the price of the LIBRA token skyrocketed from $0.01 to nearly $5 within hours, before crashing amid sales by the project's creators. According to the investigation, over 40,000 people were affected, and the organizers' withdrawal of funds reached approximately $100 million. Among the accused are lobbyist Mauricio Novelli, his partner, and American Hayden Davis.
Analyst's Comment: This case is a stark example of how a lack of clear regulation and the use of political hype can lead to a massive financial collapse. The Argentine court is essentially setting a precedent: even in a regulatory vacuum, law enforcement agencies can effectively pursue the organizers of crypto schemes using on-chain analytics and international cooperation with exchanges. Investors should learn the main lesson: pump-and-dump schemes fueled by public figures almost always end the same way — with retail participants losing their money.