Financial Damages from LIBRA Coin Fiasco Revealed in Nansen Report

On-chain analytics platform Nansen has released a report examining the aftermath of the controversial LIBRA token.

Its findings indicate that 86% of traders who bought the cryptocurrency collectively lost about $251 million, while a select group of winners walked away with at least $180 million in profits.

A Rapid Rise and Fall

LIBRA debuted on Valentine’s Day, gaining instant traction after Argentine President Javier Milei appeared to endorse it in a post on X that has since been deleted. The coin was framed as a financial tool to support small businesses in the Latin American country and to boost its economy.

While its market cap quickly skyrocketed to an eye-popping $4.5 billion less than an hour after its introduction, the joy was short-lived. Soon after, Hayden Davis, a key figure behind the project, dismissed it as a meme token, contradicting its initial branding. This kicked off an almighty price plunge that erased much of the coin’s value, a situation that worsened when Milei took down his promotional post following increasing backlash.

The head of state has since distanced himself from the token, claiming he had no prior knowledge of its details and suggesting that his social media post had been misinterpreted.

There has also been suspicion of insider trading, with blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps sharing evidence linking LIBRA’s makers with the MELANIA token.

While most people who bought the meme coin suffered huge losses, a handful of opportunists managed to capitalize on its volatility.

Winners and Losers

According to the Nansen report, two wallets bought and sold the asset in 43 minutes, raking in no less than $5.4 million. The biggest beneficiary in the fiasco reportedly walked away with $25 million, even though the figure is disputed.

On-chain data suggests that some of the earlier traders, likely experienced snipers or automated bots, managed to exit before prices crashed, leaving retail investors to suffer most of the losses. Nansen’s analysis shows that only 2,101 wallets turned a profit, with more than 15,000 ending up in the red.

Of the losers, the 15 worst-performing addresses allegedly lost a combined $33.7 million, with the biggest realized loss coming from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

Interestingly, despite its massive slump, some traders kept buying and selling LIBRA, especially after a February 17 Milei tweet briefly reignited interest in the cryptocurrency and pushed up its price by 125%. However, the coin retraced all the gains in the following 24 hours, ensuring that most of those who participated in that post-hype period suffered losses.

Per the report, there are over 1,000 wallets still holding the meme coin, with unrealized losses of about $11 million. Another 71 addresses are technically profitable, but their combined gains amounted to just $540,000 as of February 18.