The cryptocurrency $POUND became one of the most delicate scandals of the national government, with judicial referrals that reach the president Javier Milei, to his sister Karina Mileito the operator Mauricio Novelli and an international network of actors in the crypto ecosystem such as Hayden Davis and Julian Peh.
The origin of the case dates back to February 14, 2025, when the president publicly promoted the token on social networks just minutes after its creation. That institutional backing skyrocketed the asset’s price in a matter of minutes, followed by an abrupt collapse that left massive losses for tens of thousands of investors, while the founding accounts captured million-dollar profits in what specialists describe as a typical scheme of “rug pull” .
According to several journalistic investigations, the operation would have been previously coordinated between the developers of the token and actors with access to the presidential environment. In this framework, Novelli appears as a key figure. A trader with an ascending profile and with previous ties to Milei, he acted as a link between the Presidency and crypto entrepreneurs.
According to the investigation, the entrepreneur facilitated contacts with the Casa Rosada in exchange for payments in cryptocurrencies and structured commercial agreements linked to the exploitation of the presidential image. Documentation incorporated into the file indicates that he also articulated links with the firm Kelsier Ventures, owned by Davis, responsible for the token launch.
The investigations on Novelli’s cell phone—ordered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office—constitute the most compromising core of evidence. There, at least five calls were detected between Milei and Novelli in the minutes before the launch of the token, in addition to communications with Karina Milei and other officials in the presidential circle. Drafts of confidential agreements and deleted notes describing an alleged payment scheme were also found on the device.
One of these documents establishes that the president would receive five million dollars for promoting the cryptocurrency, with staggered disbursements linked to specific dissemination actions. The evidence includes a memo addressed to Davis that details the payment structure: an advance, a second payment after public validation of the relationship and a third after formalizing advisory agreements.
According to judicial reconstructions, that file was deleted but recovered by experts, which reinforces its evidentiary value. In parallel, contact records, agendas and documents were identified that suggest that Novelli “filtered” businessmen interested in accessing Milei, setting up an intermediation scheme with economic benefits.
For its part, the role of Mark Hayden Davis It also came under scrutiny. The American businessman not only appears as the creator of the token but also claimed to have acted as an advisor to the Argentine government and to have previously agreed on the promotion campaign with the presidential environment. In public statements, he even accused Milei of “betrayal” after the collapse of the project, suggesting the existence of previous unfulfilled agreements. The Asian specialist also appears on that circuit Julian Pehlinked to the technological infrastructure of the project.
The judicial case, initiated after the collapse of the token, investigates possible crimes of fraud, bribery and influence peddling. Although Milei has not yet been formally charged, his procedural situation is being analyzed and complaints are multiplying both in Argentina and abroad. In parallel, Congress promoted an investigative commission to determine political responsibilities, while the opposition demands explanations about the role of the Executive.
The most recent revelations were promoted by journalist Hugo Alconada Mon, who accessed details of the judicial investigations and disseminated the scope of the documents found on Mauricio Novelli’s cell phone. Based on these investigations, the existence of the economic agreement and direct communications with the President became known.
In one of his reports, Alconada Mon highlighted that the expert report shows “an alleged agreement of five million dollars” and “direct communications with Milei”, elements that, according to his reconstruction, “compromise the official version” of the Government. “I’m going to take care of Milei,” the journalist transcribed, stating that Novelli was personally in charge of delivering the monthly “salary” to the then presidential candidate, after passing through a “cave” to convert cryptocurrencies into dollar bills.
“Novelli sent his secretary at the firm N&W Professional Traders, Ara Belén Aime González Bosqueon October 3, 2023, when there were 19 days left for the first electoral round,” the journalist detailed in La Nación and added: “He also explained that the money to pay the ‘salaries’ to employees and influencers would come from a ‘financial company’, which he did not identify by name. In other audios, however, he alluded to ‘Camilo’, in apparent allusion to Camilo Rodríguez Blancowho also came under scrutiny in the judicial investigation for the launch and collapse of the crypto asset $LIBRA after millionaire transfers from the American Hayden Davis that ended up in a virtual wallet of Novelli and his partner, Manuel Terrones Godoy“.
Alconada Mon concluded: “Three months before, Novelli had already described the payment scheme to his secretary. ‘We pay the influencers every month,’ he explained in an audio that he sent him on July 3 of that year. “They are… they are salaries, eh… Put in the Milei thing, the USDT 2000, they are every month. Salary, salary. Eh… well, what we pay Danann in pesos is also salary, salary”, and he closed: “The payments would have continued in 2024, already with Milei in the presidency, and would even have increased. In an audio from April 2 of that year, for example, Novelli consulted about ‘the 4,000 dollars for Karina’.
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