A file recovered from the phone of a crypto lobbyist describes a three-tranche deal allegedly involving Argentine President Javier Milei.
A document recovered from the phone of crypto lobbyist Mauricio Novelli describes an alleged $5 million deal linked to Argentine President Javier Milei‘s promotion of the memecoin Libra. The story was published by Argentine investigative outlet El Destape, based on a forensic analysis of devices seized from Novelli by the Directorate of Technological Support for Criminal Investigations (DATIP), which operates under the Argentine Attorney General’s Office.
The file, written in English and dated February 11, 2025 – three days before Milei published his promotional post about Libra on X — opens with the words “Hello friends, this is the final agreement discussed with H” and outlines a three-part payment structure: $1.5 million in liquid tokens or cash as an upfront payment; an additional $1.5 million tied to Milei publicly announcing Hayden Davis as his advisor on X; and a final payment of $2 million contingent on the signing of a formal consulting contract on blockchain and artificial intelligence, to be signed in person by Milei with his and his sister Karina Milei‘s review. The “H” referenced in the document is believed by El Destape to refer to Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures and a central figure in the creation of Libra. The document does not explicitly specify who was to receive the payments.
According to El Destape, the $5 million would correspond to sums intended for the Milei siblings and the intermediaries connecting them to Davis’s operation, including Novelli himself, Manuel Terrones Godoy, and Sergio Morales. The figure coincides with what Argentine businessman Diógenes Casares publicly stated after the scandal broke – that he had learned a senior government official had received a payment of that amount in connection with Libra. Despite requests from civil parties in the criminal proceedings, Casares has not yet been summoned as a witness.
Forensic call records from Novelli’s devices reveal a dense pattern of communications around the token’s launch. Milei published the Libra post at 7:01 p.m. Argentine time on February 14, 2025. In the minutes immediately before and after, Novelli and Milei exchanged a series of calls, with multiple conversations between 6:54 p.m. and 7:03 p.m. Novelli then attempted to contact Karina Milei, who called him back at 7:17 p.m. for a conversation lasting over two minutes. As Libra’s price collapsed that evening, the communications network widened: between approximately 10:00 p.m. and midnight, Novelli spoke with presidential advisor Demian Reidel, KIP Protocol’s Julian Peh, and Milei’s senior advisor Santiago Caputo. Calls between Novelli, Caputo, and Peh continued in rapid succession past midnight. At 12:36 a.m. on February 15, KIP Protocol issued a statement declaring that Libra was a success and that Milei had no involvement in its development. Two minutes later, Milei wrote that he had simply shared what he believed was a private project, denying any connection.
A second document, dated February 16, 2025, was also recovered from Novelli’s phone, and appears to contain a draft public statement for Milei aimed at containing the fallout from the scandal. The note reportedly includes language supporting Libra while simultaneously denying financial involvement, preceded by the phrase “this is the only thing that saves him, me, and us.” A forensic analysis previously reported by Argentine newspaper La Nación had already revealed that Novelli and Milei exchanged at least five messages at 7:01 p.m. on February 14, precisely at the moment Libra’s contract address was published on X. Experts who testified before the Argentine Congress confirmed that the address was not publicly available online at the time Milei shared it, contradicting his claim that he had found it on the internet.
The Libra token had briefly reached a market capitalization of over $4 billion following Milei’s post, before collapsing by more than 90%, with eight wallets connected to the project having cashed out $107 million. An Argentine parliamentary committee had determined in November 2025 that Milei had provided “essential collaboration” to the project, recommending that Congress assess whether his actions constituted misconduct in office. Milei has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Argentina’s Anti-Corruption Office had cleared him of violating public ethics rules in June 2025, concluding that the post was personal rather than official in nature. His government had dissolved its own investigative task force into the scandal in May 2025, days after a judge had ordered the unfreezing of the president’s and his sister’s bank accounts. A federal criminal investigation and a class action lawsuit in the United States are still ongoing. Hayden Davis had previously admitted in a video recording that his team had conducted “sniping” operations on Libra at launch and acknowledged controlling wallets holding over $100 million in proceeds derived from the token.
