Who is Behind the LIBRA Token Fraud Involving Argentine President Milei?

Argentine President, Javier Milei, is under intense scrutiny this week after promoting the controversial meme token LIBRA via social media on Friday.

Just a few hours later, Milei removed his posts from his official X profile, claiming to have little or no knowledge of the token, instead stating that he believed it was a company looking to finance private ventures.

Although the token has fallen by 95 percent and a lawsuit has been initiated, those looking to avoid blame and point fingers elsewhere are attempting to deflect responsibility.

As the dust settles, four individuals have emerged as key figures allegedly behind the launch: Julian Peh, Hayden Davis, Mauricio Novelli, and Manuel Godoy. Who are they?

Julian Peh, KIP Protocol

KIP Protocol as an organization has been most blamed by Milei. Julian Peh is a co-founder of the company and currently serves as its CEO.

Peh studied law at the National University of Singapore between 2000 and 2004, during which he founded two companies.

After graduation, he worked as a lawyer at Allen & Overy Shook Lin & Bok for two years before joining Citibank Ultima Card as a consultant for five years.

He then founded an Asian luxury magazine and a suite of luxury mobile applications for retail. During that time, he became the owner of a luxury investment firm, a role he still holds.

In April 2023, he founded KIP Protocol, which presents itself as a ‘technical AI solutions company focused on implementing AI infrastructure.’ In February, KIP Protocol closed a strategic funding round led by Animoca Ventures, one of the largest investors in crypto projects and the venture capital arm of Web3 gaming publisher Animoca Brands.

In an interview with The GM Show, Peh explained that he entered cryptocurrency in 2016 after selling his luxury mobile applications company. He says he bought his first bitcoin through LocalBitcoins before being drawn to the Ethereum initial coin offering and ICO boom. He then dove into the world of NFTs, claiming to still own some CryptoKitties as of June 2024.

Peh appears to have met with President Milei in April at Tech Forum Argentina, a conference where both were scheduled to speak, and KIP Protocol was the official sponsor. The pair and other participants, such as Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, were photographed at the conference.

Then, in October, Peh met with Milei to discuss how artificial intelligence could help Argentina. The pair were photographed again, according to a blog post from KIP Protocol.

These meetings led to KIP Protocol being invited to join the Blockchain Committee of the Buenos Aires city government, which the company accepted.

In December 2024, KIP Protocol launched its KIP token on Ethereum, with a market capitalization of $32 million. However, it has since fallen to $8.43 million, according to CoinMarketCap, although these figures are based on self-reported circulating supply data.

A few hours after the launch of LIBRE on Friday, KIP Protocol stated that the token would ‘help private enterprises,’ calling it a success. This X post stated that it was a ‘private entrepreneurship project’ and that President Milei was not involved in its development.

Peh claims that neither he nor KIP Protocol were involved in the token launch, confirming that Davis’s company, Kelsier, holds all the assets.

Hayden Davis, Kelsier

Davis has been at the center of a media storm following the launch of LIBRE. He has been interviewed by investigative journalist Coffeezilla and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

He studied international business at Liberty University before founding Luxury Drip and Leaders Elevate. According to his LinkedIn, Davis is a ‘fraud expert’ as well as a ‘serial entrepreneur.’ In October 2020, he joined Kelsier, a company aimed at providing expertise for entering the Web3 market, as CEO.

Surprisingly, prior to this debacle, Davis had a relatively small digital footprint. On January 30, President Milei posted on X, posing with Davis and claiming to have had an ‘interesting’ conversation in which he received advice on blockchain and artificial intelligence.

According to a statement released by the official account of the President of Argentina on X, Davis presented the technological infrastructure of the LIBRA project. The post claims he acted on behalf of KIP Protocol, but this fact is disputed as Davis is instead the CEO of Kelsier.

In a statement following the collapse of LIBRE, Davis claimed to be an advisor to President Milei and said he was working on ‘much larger tokenization and really cool things in Argentina.’ However, the statement from the President of Argentina on X after the launch of LIBRE states that Davis had no and has no connection to the Argentine government.

Amid the chaos, Davis defended Peh, claiming that his company is ‘completely innocent of any wrongdoing.’ He further claimed that Milei’s pointing fingers at KIP Protocol was done in self-defense.

In a written statement, Davis described his role in LIBRA as responsible for ‘ensuring liquidity’ and acting as a custodian, not an owner of the associated assets. He later claimed to now control assets worth $100 million related to the project, but insists that they are not his. When asked who owns those assets, he vaguely stated the Argentine state.

In an interview with Coffeezilla, Davis confirmed that Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Godoy from Tech Forum Argentina were involved in the launch of the LIBRA token. This aligns with a statement issued by KIP Protocol.

In text messages reviewed by both CoinDesk and La Nacion, Davis allegedly claimed to have had influence over Javier Milei. He reportedly paid the president’s sister, Argentine government official Karina Milei, to have the head of state sign off on everything Davis says and does.

Davis denied the allegations to CoinDesk.

Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Godoy, Tech Forum Argentina

The exact role of Novelli and Godoy is still unclear, but the pair may have played a central role in the conception of the token. Both were part of the team behind Tech Forum Argentina, a conference sponsored by KIP Protocol with the presence of President Milei and Peh.

Novelli is a professional trader who actively competes in the Trading World Championship. He is currently third in the first quarter of the championship in day trading futures, but according to Argentine newspaper Ambito, he was crowned the best trader in America in the third quarter of 2024 and was second in the world at the futures market tournament.

He studied at the University of Cambridge, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE), and Università Bocconi, according to LinkedIn, before joining Galicia Bank as an account manager and then moving to BBVA as a senior account executive.

Novelli then founded N&W Professional Traders in 2019, which offers courses on how to trade effectively. In February 2021, the company received official support from Milei, two years before he became President of Argentina.

After becoming president in 2023, N&W Professional Traders praised Milei, posting two photos with him and a screenshot of Milei’s Instagram account with a link to the company in his bio.

The pair seems to have maintained a connection, with Novelli reportedly visiting Casa Rosada, the Argentine government office, multiple times, according to Julia Stradi, director of the Center for Political Economy of Argentina. On one occasion, they also brought Godoy and posted a photo on Instagram.

Manuel ‘Manu’ Godoy, according to LinkedIn, studied at UADE at the same time as Novelli. This may be how the pair met. He then became a project manager at an esports and gaming agency before founding four separate companies.

In 2016, he posted his first video on YouTube about the mobile game Clash Royale and soon became a regular content creator, eventually shifting from gaming to finance videos. Since then, he has amassed nearly a million subscribers on YouTube, along with 188,000 on X and 183,000 on Instagram.

On X, Godoy appears to vocally support Milei, calling him ‘the dictator voted for by the people.’ He also joked in January about a potential official MILEI token, claiming it could pay off the country’s debt.

In 2024, according to a YouTube video, he appears to have launched an NFT collection called Kmanus88 (the same name as his YouTube channel), but it was soon renamed to Bipzy. These NFTs were initially listed by owners for Ethereum worth as much as $27,000, but are now listed for only $785. There have been no announcements on Discord since June 2024.

Who is to Blame?

On Sunday, KIP Protocol denied involvement and blamed Mauricio Novelli for initiating the LIBRA idea.

In his interview with Coffeezilla, Davis added Godoy to the list of those involved. According to KIP Protocol and Davis, KIP’s role was to organize the allocation of funds to ‘Argentine companies.’

Davis, as CEO of Kelsier, acted as a ‘launch strategist,’ he said, making decisions based on the team’s direction. This left Davis in control of over $100 million in funds related to LIBRA. Novelli was reportedly the one who provided the token to KIP, while it seems Godoy, his associate, was involved from Tech Forum Argentina.

It remains uncertain who will ultimately be held responsible. Each of these four figures reportedly had a unique role in the chaotic launch. The question now is: Will any of them take the blame amid the growing publicity?