Crypto, Crime & Corruption: A memecoin family’s checkered past puts the presidency of Argentina’s Javier Milei in trouble

crypto scandal that’s ensnared the president of one of South America’s biggest countries wasn’t the first time that members of the Davis family found themselves at the center of controversy.
Long before Hayden Davis became famous for getting Argentine President Javier Milei to promote a memecoin, his father told tales of counterfeiting checks and assuming fake identities as a young man, eventually ending up in prison. Further up the family tree, the tales get even wilder: Hayden’s grandfather was murdered by followers of his great-grandfather, the head of a polygamist cult that practiced blood sacrifice.

Hayden is the 28-year-old chief executive officer of Kelsier Ventures, an obscure investment firm which he runs with his brother Gideon, 25, and father Tom, 54. The company and Hayden’s memecoin Libra are at the heart of a scandal that’s rattled investors in Argentina after Milei promoted the token with the promise that it would raise money for small businesses in the nation.

Within an hour of Libra’s Valentine’s Day launch, investors had pushed the token’s market value above $4 billion as they rushed to buy following a social media post by Milei. But as memecoins so often do, Libra’s price collapsed minutes later, leaving more than 80% of its buyers nursing estimated losses totaling $251 million. As the token sank, Milei quickly deleted his social media post supporting it, later stating that he hadn’t intended to persuade people to buy it in the first place.

Around $100 million was cashed out within minutes of