24-hour hot coins and news | LIBRA farce continues to ferment; KIP, Kelsier, Meteora, and Jupiter collectively "pass the buck" (2.17)

1. Top 10 CEX Trading Volume and 24-Hour Price Change:

• BTC: - 1.31%

• ETH: - 0.8%

• TRUMP: - 0.16%

• SOL: - 2.68%

• XRP: - 1.38%

• BNB: + 1.62%

• LTC: - 5.16%

• DOGE: - 1.82%

• CAKE: + 9.43%

• SUI: - 2.73%

24-Hour Gainers (Data from OKX):

• BZZ: + 46.96%

• GLM: + 46.73%

• ID: + 23.71%

• ULTI: + 14.38%

• ZBCN: + 12.6%

• IP: + 12.3%

• EIGEN: + 10.78%

• ACH: + 10.61%

• XCH: + 9.88%

• SWEAT: + 9.44%

2. Top 5 Trending Meme Tokens on-Chain (Data from GMGN):

• TRUMP

• arc

• Fartcoin

• CHILL

• VIGI

3. Top 24H Trending Tokens

• LIBRA: A meme token of the Argentine president that quickly crashed after launch, with allegations of an insider group profiting over $100 million. Details in the article "Argentine President's Meme Coin Sparks Outrage, Who Profited and Who Got Rugged?".

Headlines

Argentine President Sets Up Task Force to Investigate LIBRA, Requests Anti-Corruption Office Involvement

Argentine Opposition Seeks to Impeach President Milei Over Alleged Crypto 'Rug Pull' Scandal

CZ: BTC Now More Like a Store of Value Than a Transaction Currency, Lots of New Money Buying ETFs But Not Reflected on-Chain

Shaw: Unauthorized Posts Made on My X Account, Please Do Not Interact or Purchase Any Tokens

Industry News

Media: Argentine Govt Concerned Foreign Investors May Suffer Losses or Face OFAC Sanctions Over LIBRA, Assets May Be Seized

KIP Protocol: LIBRA Launch and Market Making Fully Handled by Kelsier, Tokens to Be Transferred to a Foundation

Odaily News Report: KIP Protocol released an announcement regarding LIBRA on X: "There is a lot of misinformation about the release of LIBRA and the role of KIP, so we would like to clarify:
The token release and market making were fully handled by Kelsier (@KelsierVentures), represented by the project initiator Hayden Davis. These wallets do not belong to KIP or myself (referring to co-founder Julian).
After the token release, KIP was invited to manage/oversee the selection of funded technical projects and to provide technical infrastructure for the AI program.
Therefore, all matters related to the release and tokens should be directed to Kelsier, as they are handling this and plan to transfer the tokens to a foundation.
When Argentine President Javier Milei posted about the project on X, it drew people's attention. At that time, KIP was not involved in the release, as our role has always been after the token launch.
KIP faced a lot of FUD that day, including threats against me and my employees, but we were not involved in the release, we did not handle any tokens or SOL.
KIP publicly acknowledged its role in the project (although not involved in the token issuance), as we were already listed on the website and believe in the potential of the plan.
As a technology company, our focus remains on innovation and infrastructure - we never focus on token issuance.
After discussing with Kelsier, we learned that all the SOL issued that day will be re-injected into the LP/chart. All market making fees will be transferred to a foundation in Argentina. That foundation will continue to run this project as originally planned.
All details about the tokens should be directed to Kelsier. We did not profit a single penny from today's activities.
To reiterate, KIP is not engaged in token issuance or market making. We remain committed to transparency and our role in promoting meaningful technology-driven initiatives." Odaily News Report: Kelsier posted an announcement on X about the latest developments of LIBRA: "Argentine President Milei (Javier Milei) initially supported and actively promoted the Libra token on social media platforms (including X and Instagram). His team obtained his public support at the time of the release and assured me that they would continue to support it throughout the release process.
Given my role as an advisor, my main responsibility was to ensure the token had sufficient trading volume, liquidity, and strong funding to support its price and execute the project's vision. However, as an advisor, there were many factors that I could not control.
Despite previous commitments, Milei and his team unexpectedly changed their stance, withdrew their support, and deleted all their previous social media support. This sudden decision was made without any prior warning and directly contradicted their previous assurances. To my surprise, Milei later issued a statement saying his withdrawal was due to alleged misconduct by the project's supporters, calling them scammers.
I firmly reject this claim and want to emphasize that Julian Peh, the founder of the KIP Network and the main sponsor of the Libra Token, is completely innocent. I can only assume that Milei's team is trying to shift the blame to Julian to avoid responsibility.
It is crucial to recognize that Meme coin investments are driven by trust and recognition. When Milei and his team deleted their posts, the investors who had purchased the tokens based on their trust in his endorsement felt betrayed. This triggered a panic sell-off, further exacerbating the situation. The sudden loss of confidence had a disastrous impact on the market stability of the token.
Regarding my role, I was responsible for ensuring the project's liquidity, and I still maintain control over all relevant fees and treasury funds. I want to make it clear that I have not and will not use these funds for personal gain. As the custodian (not the owner) of these funds, I am unwilling to transfer them to Milei's team or the KIP team.
After consulting experts, I have recommended reinvesting 100% of the funds I control (up to $100 million) back into the Libra token and burning all purchased supply. Unless a more viable alternative is proposed, I intend to start executing this plan within the next 48 hours.
I remain committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves." Odaily News Report: Meteora team member benchow.sol (@hellochow) posted on X to clarify: "The Meteora team was not involved in the deployment, market making, or release of LIBRA.
The LIBRA team used Meteora, which is a permissionless platform. We have never had any contact with that token or Argentine President Milei.
Many teams create Meteora pools through CLI/SDK/CPI, and there are many configuration options, so we do frequently help them with our technology. As we learn more, we will share more information in the future." Earlier today, it was reported that according to Arkham's monitoring, 70% of LIBRA's supply is held in 2 addresses, and 15% of the supply is directly deposited by the developer address into the Meteora LP. Odaily News Report: Jupiter released a statement on X regarding LIBRA: "From the beginning, Jupiter has placed great emphasis on transparency. Meme coin issuance is a dirty game filled with all kinds of ugly behavior. However, we have nothing to hide. Therefore, we can state the following facts as clearly as possible.

Here is the English translation of the text, with the specified terms translated as instructed:

Some members of the Jupiter team were aware that at some point there would be a token project related to Argentine President Javier Milei. We learned this directly from Kelsier Ventures about 2 weeks ago. Although we were initially unsure, we later saw reliable evidence in the form of a public post on Milei's personal account indicating that he was serious about it. This is all we know.
We have no knowledge whatsoever of the transactions between the responsible parties (in this case Milei and the market makers) and have not participated in any way.
In the Meme crypto circle, an 'Argentina Coin' will be launched at some point, which is an open secret, as evidenced by many public posts that have since appeared. But to adhere to our confidentiality, we have not discussed this with anyone online or offline. Additionally, no one on the team has received any LIBRA tokens or related compensation.
No one knew the release date, time, or CA in advance. Only Meow himself knew about it on the scheduled release day, but he didn't know the CA or the specific time, and he didn't participate in any way. He was asleep in Tokyo when the token was released.
Ben from Meteora knew the CA a few minutes before the release to verify it, but only shared it with the Jupiter team after the information was made public.
Contrary to the large amount of FUD on X, we did not pre-verify or immediately verify the CA. Instead, we waited for public confirmation (again from Milei's X account) and sufficient trading volume.
When we added LIBRA to the Strict List and displayed a 'Verified' tag in the Trenches product, its market cap had already reached around $1.5 billion. It was not until about 1 hour after the release that LIBRA received the 'Verified' icon in our default token search.
Why verify it? The answer is simple: to protect users. Immediately after LIBRA, dozens of imposter tokens were launched, and without the Strict List verification, traders could easily accidentally purchase the wrong token. Our Strict List has never endorsed a specific token, it is just our way of ensuring users can buy the correct token they intend to buy.
By the way, our new Organic Scoring aims to help eliminate the need for this verification process and instead let organic on-chain activity determine which tokens are 'right'.
We take allegations of insider trading extremely seriously. We have conducted our own investigation and found no evidence of any team members front-running.
If you have evidence that Jupiter employees leaked information or otherwise front-ran, please contact us directly. If we find any team members taking action based on non-public information, we will take swift and decisive action.
The whole LIBRA affair has been brutal, both for traders and for our ecosystem. In fact, many Meme coins have long been detrimental to the ecosystem, with front-running, bundling, and all of this becoming the norm.
We absolutely will not tolerate these extreme PVP releases. We are actively working on better internal and external systems to help improve the situation for everyone.
As mentioned, Meow will release a more detailed statement later today.

Chaofan Shou Clarifies Rumors: Not the Founder of Solayer but a Core Developer, Lost Funds on LIBRA from Personal Investments

Odaily reported that Solayer team member Chaofan Shou issued the following disclaimer regarding some rumors circulating in the community:
"I joined Solayer in the Fuzzland acquisition deal. I am not the founder of Solayer, only a core developer. The funds I lost on LIBRA were my personal investments.
Over the past few years, I have accumulated wealth through active investment in ETH and multiple projects. I also traded Meme coins, and a loss of $1 million is still acceptable to me - but I am very sad about Solana. These cabal groups are destroying SOL."

Bartool Sports Founder: Received 6 Million LIBRA Tokens as a Gift, but Returned Them After Being Asked to Keep It Confidential by Advisors

Odaily reported that Bartool Sports founder Dave Portnoy revealed the latest details about the LIBRA launch in an X Space last Sunday.
Portnoy said he was originally planning to join the project as an advisor and buy the token at launch, but later returned the 6 million LIBRA tokens he had been gifted after the project advisor Hayden Davis told him not to disclose receiving the tokens.
Portnoy said: "I'm not going to promote this launch on X and act like 'oh, Milei is the greatest'... and not mention that they gave me tokens, by the way, I bought a bunch... They did not give me tokens before the launch."
Portnoy said he trusted Davis because of his past experience in crypto, and hoped Davis' involvement in the project would help him connect with Milei. Davis proposed the idea of Portnoy and Milei doing an interview to "introduce [Milei] to the world".
Portnoy said that just as he was about to post his support for the project, Davis told him not to disclose receiving the gifted tokens, "'You can't say we gave you these tokens'... If you're not going to let me say that, I can't take these tokens, and I was part of this project, so I just gave the tokens back."
A wallet associated with Portnoy has no record of receiving the tokens, but Portnoy said he has other wallets, "Yeah, I created other wallets... I just like to trade, I like to see the price go up."

Coinbase Agrees to Delay Appeal Case Review, Speculation that the Case May Be Nearing Its End

Odaily reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) previously requested to extend the deadline for its response to Coinbase's appeal from February 14 to March 14, and Coinbase has agreed to this extension request.
The case can be traced back to June 2023, when the SEC accused Coinbase of offering unregistered securities and failing to fulfill disclosure obligations. Coinbase, however, argues that the crypto transactions on its platform do not constitute securities, seeking clarification on whether secondary market trading fits the definition of investment contracts under securities law. Previously, Judge Katherine Failla had approved Coinbase's interim appeal request and suspended all litigation in the case until the Second Circuit Court reviews the appeal. Notably, the SEC's recently formed crypto task force is led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is known to be pro-crypto, fueling speculation that the long-running litigation may be nearing its end.

Binance Executive Reiterates that Nigerian Rogue Politician Demanded a $150 Million Bribe to Drop Lawsuit Against Binance

Here is the English translation of the text, with the specified terms translated as instructed: Odaily report: Binance's financial crime compliance chief Tigran Gambaryan recently reiterated that a Nigerian rogue lawmaker had demanded a $150 million bribe to drop a lawsuit against Binance. The lawmaker wanted the funds to be directly transferred to his crypto wallet, using "fake cameras and media" to make the meeting with Binance executives appear legitimate. In May 2024, there were reports that Binance CEO Richard Teng accused members of the Nigerian House of Representatives Financial Crimes Committee (HCFC) of demanding a $150 million bribe. At the time, Nigerian Information Minister Mohammed Idris denied the allegations, saying it was the company's "strategy to divert attention from the serious criminal charges it faces." However, Gambaryan insisted that the attempt was indeed made with the involvement of Nigeria's Department of State Services (DSS). He also said: "The Nigerian government has been publicly claiming that there is a mysterious $26 billion that has flowed out of Nigeria through Binance, which is complete nonsense. This information was provided at their request, it's just the cumulative transaction data of Nigerians on the platform. The money has not flowed out of Nigeria - it's just people buying and selling crypto. For example, if you trade $100 100 times, that's $10,000 in trading volume, but you've only used $100 in reality. Similarly, this is just another example of them lying to cover up their bogus investigation." After Gambaryan shared these explosive details, Nigerian Information Minister Idris issued a statement denying the allegations. However, the statement acknowledged the bribery allegations, but Idris said the Nigerian government had initiated the investigation, "although no formal lawsuit has been filed." The statement also revealed that the Nigerian government rejected a U.S. proposal to pay $5 million in exchange for Gambaryan's release. Odaily report: Indian authorities have seized nearly $190 million in crypto related to the crypto Ponzi scheme BitConnect, which collapsed in 2018, causing losses of around $2.4 billion for investors in 95 countries. BitConnect was launched in 2016 and collapsed in 2018. BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani (indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in February 2022) had set up a global network of promoters, paying them commissions to promote the Ponzi scheme. Last August, it was reported that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in India had arrested a man named Shailesh Babulal Bhatt from Gujarat for kidnapping, extortion, and violating anti-money laundering laws in a major crypto-related crime case. According to the Surat police's first information report against BitConnect Coin founder Satish Kumbhani, the Indian judiciary initiated a money laundering investigation, leading to Bhatt's arrest. Kumbhani allegedly defrauded investors and fled after shutting down the BitConnect platform in January 2018. Bhatt had invested in BitConnect and, to recover his funds, kidnapped two of Kumbhani's employees, extorting 2,091 BTC, 11,000 LTC, and 145 million rupees in cash, now worth 12.325 billion rupees. Bhatt also distributed 2.89 billion rupees of the extorted funds to his accomplices to acquire various assets. Project News: BNB Chain releases optimization plan to address surging traffic, prioritizing Meme coin transactions. According to the official announcement, BNB Chain has released its first optimization plan to address the surge in traffic. The team observed that during peak traffic periods, many transactions were not being included in blocks in a timely manner. This means that even if users increase the gas fee (transaction fee) to speed up their transactions, they may not necessarily get the priority they expect. While there are many potential contributing factors, a key issue is that validator nodes do not always prioritize the blocks with the highest overall value (i.e., the most profitable blocks based on transaction fees). BNB Chain's current design prioritizes getting all transactions on-chain as quickly as possible, minimizing the average waiting time in the mempool. However, this approach is not optimal for fast-paced, high-risk Meme coin transactions, where even minor price fluctuations can have a significant impact. Therefore, the team is refining the strategy to prioritize block value, especially when handling critical transactions. In other words, it will give higher priority to transactions interacting with time-sensitive (Meme coin) contracts. This upgrade will introduce a brief waiting period before block sealing, as long as there is sufficient time within the 3-second block window. This will allow validators to collect more bids, increasing the chances of including the best bids and improving overall block building performance, especially during network activity peaks. This change also provides more time for bid collection, potentially leading to more efficient block building. Personalities & Voices: CZ clarifies: will not promote any AI agent tokens, but hopes to see more development progress and real-world use cases. Regarding the claim that "CZ seems to be promoting AI agent tokens on BSC," CZ posted on X to clarify: "I'm not trying to promote any specific AI agent tokens. But I hope to see more on-chain AI agent development progress and real-world use cases. Genuine development usually happens after the hype has died down." Yesterday, CZ posted on the X platform stating that according to Defillama data, BNB Chain's trading volume has increased by 66.63% week-over-week, and this all started with a tutorial video. He mentioned that the team is reportedly working on a new tutorial video to teach people how to create AI agents on the BNB Chain. The ETF Store president: Being "rug pulled" by a presidential Meme coin should not be a scapegoat for Crypto, as the technology will continue to evolve. The ETF Store president Nate Geraci posted on X, stating: "Creating Meme coins is as easy as a few clicks of a mouse, which is why 60,000 Meme coins are created every day, as we all know. If you get 'rug pulled' - whether it's Trump, Millie, or anyone else - that's not an indictment of Crypto, that's on you. For my traditional finance friends who haven't played with Meme coins yet, the focus should be on the technology, not the 'grift.' The technology is nearly flawless, it's just a real-time testing environment serving what you see, but it will evolve beyond this stage." Su Zhu: pump.fun has the strongest cyclicality in the Meme coin infrastructure, while Moonshot is the weakest. Su Zhu posted on X, stating: "The order from strongest to weakest cyclicality in the Meme coin infrastructure is: pump.fun, Photon / BullX, Moonshot." Tyr Capital CIO: ETH may be about to reverse trend and rise to $4,000. Tyr Capital Chief Investment Officer Ed Hindi stated that ETH is at a "peak of bearishness" and its price trend may be about to reverse and rise to $4,000.