An Argentine federal judge has ordered the freezing of 25 cryptocurrency wallets and directed six exchanges to identify the holders behind them, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing investigation into the collapsed $LIBRA token. The ruling came after authorities traced millions of dollars across multiple blockchain networks, according to local reports.
Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi issued the order following a detailed report from the Cybercrime Technical Department of the Argentine Federal Police. The report reconstructed the flow of funds associated with the LIBRA team’s wallets starting from May 2025. Investigators found that nearly 498,539 USDT had been moved in a single transaction through a cross‑chain protocol to a Tron network wallet, and then split into 17 smaller transfers—a technique described as “digital smurfing”—to obscure the trail.
The police traced at least ten of those transactions through Binance, eight through Bybit, two through OKX, and another two through Bitfinex. Because centralized exchanges generally require KYC verification, authorities believe those transfers could help identify the individuals involved. The judge’s order compels the exchanges to provide account holder identities, KYC records, IP addresses, and transaction histories.
$LIBRA launched in February 2025 after Argentine President Javier Milei promoted it on social media, briefly soaring before crashing within minutes. Token creator Hayden Davis previously stated that roughly $110 million remained under his control after the launch. The eight wallets identified as the “Libra Team” consolidated funds into a single wallet, labeled “61yk,” which had been frozen for nearly six months under a U.S. court order. When that restriction was lifted, funds began moving again, with an estimated $8.2 million becoming active in May, as tracked by crypto analyst Fernando Molina.
The asset freeze is a precautionary measure while the investigation continues, and the order does not constitute a final judgment on ownership or guilt. It aims to preserve traceable assets and prevent further movement before investigators can complete their review.
