(Bloomberg) – For the first time since he came to power in 2023, Argentine’s Javier Mairei has joined political defense after plunging the government into a massive cryptocurrency scandal. A trip to Washington gives him the opportunity to return to his front legs.
Most of them read from Bloomberg
Mylay arrived in the US capital on Thursday and unfolded almost a week after he promoted Memocoin with the surged X before it collapsed soon, seeking a reprieve from the Saga. Planned a few weeks ago, this visit wasn’t the better time to help Mairay return to his financial success in front of his political friends.
Elon Musk welcomed the ar he hoped for at a conservative political action meeting on Thursday. Mairay handed the sparkling powers to his mask, wearing Doge’s chief, dark sunglasses, chains and black hats, hugged in front of an uplifting crowd, and was touted as “a chainsaw of all bureaucracy.” Mairi then sat down with International Monetary Fund chief Christarina Georgieva to establish an agreement to boost Argentina’s economy.
“Today, I welcomed President @Jmilei to the IMF and discussed Argentina’s stabilization and growth plans, which has important consequences,” Georgieva posted on X.
When Mairay paraded around Washington, the Argentine Senate passed a bill to halt the country’s primary to law, increasing his chances ahead of a critical midterm vote. By skipping the usual August primary and going straight to the October election, Mairay stretches the runway for positive economic outcomes from the government, leading to a more overwhelming victory in the polls. Ta.
“The trip was intended to strengthen ties with the Trump administration, particularly in the wake of tariff threats, and to go to international lending agencies to drive IMF transactions at the finish line,” based consultancy McLarty Associates. “Now, conveniently, it serves a third purpose and is a domestic purpose.”
Until last week, Mairay made little investors by bringing his famous chainsaw to Argentina’s bloated public budget and tackling inflation at its nearly five years’ low. Even amid the brutal recession, his popularity was surprisingly durable.
The story continues
However, last Friday he promoted it the same way he launched a cryptocurrency called Libra, but after the coin collapsed a few hours later he deleted the post and returned support.
Since then, things have gone into a spiral. Hayden Davis, the key figure behind the token, showed off Mairi’s involvement in the saga, even as the Argentine team tried to minimize connections. Also, Davis boasted another investor about texting a different investor, according to separate news reports released Tuesday.
Davis denied that he paid or sent a message to Coindesk, the crypto industry site that published screenshots of the messages. Mylay denied any fraud in a television interview Monday.
This scandal tested two pillars of Mairay’s popularity. His mastery of libertarian economics and his qualification as an anti-corruption crusade. At best, he made a humiliating mistake by being involved in something he doesn’t know. At worst, he is faced with questions about potential bribery in his inner circle. The impact on Argentina’s assets has been relatively limited, with local stock indexes falling about 6% on Monday, fully recovering these losses and putting them on extremes on Wednesday.
However, last week’s case provided a small opening for Argentina’s opposition, which filed more than 100 lawsuits and investigations of each ammo. Efforts to remove Milei from the office are unlikely to advance. But even so, he still needs a story-changing victory, and there is a chance he might find it in Washington. His government has been in discussion with the IMF for several months on a new program that can provide new infusions of cash to help raise currency management, with support from the US, the lender’s biggest shareholder, being important. .
The new contract was on the 23rd with the institution, as Argentina’s 23rd place, and how to raise capital controls was a major fixture. Milei’s team advocates for managing PESO depreciation rates to keep consumer prices down, but the IMF is pushing for a more flexible currency policy.
Economic Minister Luis Caputo said on Monday that Argentina and the IMF will only settle final details. Marcelo Garcia, Director Director of Horizon Engage, a consulting firm in Buenos Aires, may add urgency to Milei’s Saga to solidify deals, but Milei’s Saga will lock down contracts He said it might add urgency to his quest.
“Until now, the government seemed in no hurry to reach an agreement with the IMF,” Garcia said. “This political crisis may change that.”
Trump’s tariff threat is also becoming heavier with mylay. The plan to impose mutual collection on countries that suddenly cost US goods is highly protective at the forefront of a global trade war that challenges Mairay, even if he is in the US leadership. We are promoting Argentina.
However, it is CPAC that Milei is poised to give a speech on Saturday, which may offer Milei the biggest personal boost. He is ready for a wild reception from a conservative crowd who had accepted him on social media and the same event a year ago, among which there are few crypto scandals registered. Milei’s team emphasized that they will speak on the same day as Trump.
“This trip is timed right,” said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin American Program at the Wilson Center in Washington. “Mairay is warmly welcomed in the United States, where he is seen as the magician who defeated inflation and brought order to the economy caused by the Argentina crisis.”
(Musk and Georgieva Conference updates in the third and fourth paragraphs, Senate votes in the fifth paragraph.)
Most of them read from Bloomberg BusinessWeek
©2025 Bloomberg LP
