Argentina’s opposition parties have revived a stalled investigation into President Javier Milei’s role in the LIBRA scandal, seizing on new corruption allegations that have rattled the government just weeks before October’s elections.

The commission, first created in April but largely paralyzed by bureaucratic and congressional hurdles, was reactivated on Aug. 28 after leaked recordings implicated Milei and his sister Karina in a separate bribery scheme.

The tapes, belonging to former presidential attorney and government official Diego Spagnuolo, contained claims of cash-for-favors dealings. Spagnuolo later admitted the recordings were authentic.

Public backlash fuels probe

The scandal has triggered a wave of public anger. On Wednesday, protesters hurled lettuce and rubbish at Milei during a public appearance, an act that drew headlines across the country.

While no injuries were reported, the incident highlights mounting unrest against the president’s administration. The fresh controversy has given the LIBRA probe new momentum. It had lost traction after Milei dissolved its initial task force in May.

The LIBRA affair centers on allegations of insider trading and a pump-and-dump scheme tied to the digital token, a case prosecutors say may have involved Argentina’s highest levels of power.

Maximiliano Ferraro, a legislator from the Civic Coalition ARI and head of the new investigative body, said the commission intends to establish whether misconduct occurred. Ferraro said the investigation was reignited because questions remain over whether insider trading took place.

Political stakes ahead of elections

Five opposition parties, representing 136 of the Chamber of Deputies’ 257 lawmakers, voted to reopen the case despite pushback from Milei’s allies.

The commission set a reporting deadline of Nov. 10, weeks after Argentines head to the polls.

The inquiry adds to the mounting challenges facing Milei as he navigates a presidency already strained by economic turmoil and growing discontent. The combination of corruption scandals and revived investigations could weigh heavily on his political future.

While the LIBRA scandal has shaken Argentina’s crypto community, the broader allegations of bribery and abuse of power have struck a deeper chord with the public. With elections looming, the outcome of the investigation, and its political fallout, remains uncertain.

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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is defending the bank’s controversial plans to charge fintech companies such as PayPal and Coinbase fees for access to customers’ account information.

In an earnings call for the second quarter of 2025, Dimon said that the fintech-fee decision was made to protect its customers when asked about the new policy.

“So, this is very important. So forget pricing for a second, we are in favor of the customer, but we think the customer has the right to if they want to share their information. What we ask people to do is, what do they – do they actually know what’s being shared? What is actually being shared? It shouldn’t be everything. It should be what their customer wants. It should have a time limit because some of these things went on for years. It should not be re-marketed or resold to third parties. And so, we’re kind of in favor of all that, done properly.

And then the payment, it just costs a lot of money to set up the APIs and stuff like that to run the system’s protection. So, we just think it should be done and done right. And that’s the main part. It’s not like you can’t do it.”

The fintech companies use the information to make it easier for their customers to send, receive and trade money. JPMorgan is reportedly poised to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the service.

Alex Rampell, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and co-founder of the buy now, pay later business Affirm, is slamming JPMorgan’s move, warning it will make it more difficult to move money into crypto.

“This isn’t about a new revenue stream. It’s about strangling competition. And if they get away with this, every bank will follow…

If it suddenly costs $10 to move $100 into a Coinbase or Robinhood account – maybe fewer people will do it.”

Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of crypto platform Kraken, is criticizing JPMorgan for “asserting ownership over data that is generated by users but stored inside infrastructure the bank controls.”

“We should not be optimizing for defensibility through restriction. We should be leveraging our position and profitability to build better access, more open architecture and more composable systems. That means investing in protocols, not just platforms. It means participating in shared infrastructure, not just extracting value from it.”

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The European Union is preparing to relax its stance on foreign-issued stablecoins, potentially allowing U.S. dollar-backed tokens like USDC and USDT to circulate freely within the bloc, the Financial Times reported on June 25.

According to the report, the European Commission will soon issue formal guidance enabling stablecoins issued outside the EU to be treated as equivalent to their European-registered counterparts.

The move would clear a key regulatory hurdle that has so far limited the reach of dollar-backed stablecoins in Europe’s financial markets.

The shift comes despite repeated warnings from the European Central Bank, which has cautioned that unrestricted access to foreign stablecoins could undermine financial stability.

ECB President Christine Lagarde previously urged policymakers to tighten restrictions on stablecoin issuers, citing the risk of capital flight and reduced monetary sovereignty.

Under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, stablecoin issuers are currently required to maintain most of their reserves in EU-based banks and ensure euro-denominated redemption rights.

The proposed changes would allow global issuers to bypass those limitations for branded versions of their tokens already operating under EU supervision.

The U.S. Senate’s recent passage of the GENIUS Act, which establishes a national framework for stablecoin oversight, has increased pressure on other jurisdictions to keep pace.

The Financial Times cited several unnamed officials familiar with the matter, who indicated that the Commission’s guidance aims to avoid a scenario in which the EU becomes a “flyover zone” for digital assets, left behind by faster-moving markets in the U.S. and Asia.

The ECB has not publicly commented on the upcoming guidance, but sources told the FT that internal opposition remains strong. EU officials are reportedly working on a compromise that would give national regulators more discretion in assessing the risks associated with foreign stablecoins.

If enacted, the new approach could mark a turning point for the role of U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins in Europe, reinforcing the dollar’s dominance in digital asset markets while signaling the EU’s desire to remain a competitive hub for crypto innovation.

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Sead Fadilpašić

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Sead specializes in writing factual and informative articles to help the public navigate the ever-changing world of crypto. He has extensive experience in the blockchain industry, where he has served…

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June 1, 2025

The Czech Republic has been shaken by a Bitcoin scandal. On Friday, Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned, with the opposition set to demand the resignation of the coalition government this week as well.

The situation caught on fire at the end of last week after Blažek, a conservative politician, accepted a large donation in BTC and sold it for about $45.8 million in March, the AP reported. The opposition has raised concerns over the source of the donation.

Blažek received the coins from Tomas Jirikovsky, a convicted criminal. Jirikovsky operated the Sheep Marketplace. In 2017, he went to prison for embezzlement, drug trafficking, and illegal trading of weapons.

Jirikovsky’s lawyer reportedly approached Blažek in March 2025, saying his client would donate 30% of his BTC stash to the ministry. Police had confiscated the wallet containing this BTC and returned it to Jirikovsky after his release in 2021.

Blažek did not check the coins’ origin. “I have no way to investigate the matter, and I wasn’t interested so many years after the case,” he said at a press conference on Thursday. Jirikovsky probably wanted “to repent” through the donation, he said.

He also claimed that courts had not proven that the BTC came from criminal activity.

However, the opposition parties argue that it’s unclear why Jirikovsky gave the coins to the ministry or where the coins came from. They accused Blažek of potential money laundering.

Furthermore, they argue that the state shouldn’t use the money until these points are clear.

Meanwhile, the High Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc is investigating the case on suspicion of abuse of official authority and laundering of proceeds of crime.

Blažek denied knowledge of wrongdoing. Nonetheless, he said he resigned so not to harm the four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala. The PM said he believed that Blažek acted with goodwill.

Czech Coalition Government in Danger?

Today, Brno Daily reported that the lower house will hold an urgent session on Thursday. The opposition parties will use the occasion to demand the resignation of the coalition government, the deputy leaders of the ANO and SPD parties, Karel Havlicek and Radim Fiala, said on Sunday.

“We will want the government to find sufficient self-reflection and resign,” Havlicek said. The current cabinet could stay until the parliamentary elections in October, but it shouldn’t have the power to make major decisions.

If the coalition government doesn’t resign,

“We are very strongly considering calling a no-confidence vote in the government.”

Fiala, deputy leader of the far-right SPD, said that his party “will support an extraordinary session” and a vote of no confidence in the government.

However, lower house speaker Jan Skopecek said the opposition’s plans are just “theatre” in the campaign ahead of the elections. He added that Blažek has already resigned, so there is no reason for the cabinet to do so as well.

Moreover, Czech Fiscal Council chair Mojmir Hampl argued that this case raises numerous key technical questions. However, these will not be answered in the pre-election stage.

Meanwhile, Le Monde reported that Jirikovsky had been trying to recover about 1,500 BTC, seized by the police, since his imprisonment. During the trial, the court suspected that the coins came from Nucleus. This is a dark web marketplace that, the report claims, shut down the day after Jirikovsky’s arrest.

Furthermore, BTC market monitors noted that a portion of the Nucleus-linked BTC, dormant since 2016, moved to new wallets in March. This is after Blažek signed the agreement, reports claim.

Jirikovsky claimed that he got to keep the BTC because he had obtained it legally. Blažek claimed he hadn’t made any promises in return for the donation.

All these allegations will likely be brought up during the Thursday emergency session.

The U.S. Senate voted Monday to advance the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act), a bill aimed at regulating stablecoins, following a 66-32 procedural vote.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), seeks to establish a federal framework for stablecoin issuers, requiring full asset backing, monthly reserve disclosures, and annual audits for issuers exceeding $50 billion in market capitalization.

The bill also restricts algorithmic stablecoins and prohibits large technology firms from issuing stablecoins unless they meet financial risk and consumer privacy criteria.

The vote comes two weeks after Senate Democrats blocked the measure, citing concerns over consumer protections and potential conflicts of interest related to President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures.

“The bill as it currently stands still has numerous issues that must be addressed, including adding stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, national security, preserving the safety and soundness of our financial system, and accountability for those who don’t meet the act’s requirements.”

Several Democratic senators later changed their stance, allowing the bill to proceed to debate on the Senate floor.

The GENIUS Act is expected to face further amendments before a final vote, which could take place as early as the end of the week. If enacted, the bill would mark the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, a sector currently valued at nearly $250 billion.

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