Cryptocurrencies

Argentina Scandal Fuels Selloff on Favorite Memecoin Platform

The roughly $20 billion slide has drawn attention to the sudden surges and crashes in memecoins as promoters have been issuing thousands of the tokens.

Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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The Solana cryptocurrency sank to the lowest level since early November as the president of Argentina became embroiled in a scandal involving a memecoin launched on the token’s blockchain.

Solana, the sixth-largest crypto token, has lost about 25% of its market value since Feb. 14 as Argentina President Javier Milei came under scrutiny for promoting a token called Libra on the Solana blockchain, a network that has become popular for developers of crypto memecoins due to its low fees and fast transaction fees.