Hayden Davis, known as “Kelsier,” has come under intense scrutiny following his involvement in the launch of the LIBRA token, a meme coin promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei.
The token, which was supposedly intended to drive economic growth in Argentina, saw its market cap soar to over $4 billion before crashing dramatically. The Argentine President deleted a tweet showing his endorsement of the project, only to retweet another post giving instructions on how to create a wallet.
Milei: I didn’t promote it, I shared it.
“I acted in good faith and took a hit,”
“Did the State lose money? No. Did Argentinians lose money? Maybe four or five at most. The vast majority of investors are Chinese and American.”
“I shared this the same way I’ve shared hundreds…
— db (@tier10k) February 17, 2025
In an eye-opening interview with the YouTube investigator Coffeezilla, Davis admitted to questionable practices that have raised ethical and legal concerns about his role in the space.
In essence, Davis confessed to engaging in “sniping,” a practice where insiders use automated bots to buy tokens immediately after they hit the market, often securing them at lower prices before they become available to the general public. He also acknowledged the misappropriation of around $100 million in funds linked to the LIBRA project, which he claims to be holding with the express intention of reinjecting into the market.
This admission of what could be considered fraudulent behaviour has not only tarnished his reputation but also poured fuel over already fiery discussions about the integrity (or lack thereof) of token launches.
The token’s collapse (LIBRA/USDC) saw a number of insiders, including Hayden, by his own admission, cash out $107 million in liquidity, leading to a $4 billion wipe within hours as initially reported by Cointelegraph.
Furthermore, Davis’s involvement with the MELANIA token, another political memecoin, was similarly marred by allegations of insider trading and market manipulation.
His candid revelations during the interview suggest that these practices are not isolated incidents but are indicative of a broader, systemic issue within the token launch space which are extractive by their very nature.
This scenario with Davis and the LIBRA token launch seems to reflect a modus operandi where insiders leverage their knowledge, political affiliations and access for personal gain, often at the expense of uninformed retail gamblers (who should know better than to participate in a meme sale regardless).
It raises critical ethical and legal questions about the fundamental use-case for such token launches while serving as a reminder of how far things have drifted from fairness, transparency and basic common decency, in a space that’s increasingly become synonymous with fraud and degenerate gambling.
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