Kelsier Ventures, the firm embroiled in Argentina’s LIBRA meme coin scandal, is reportedly in talks with Nigerian officials to launch a similar project on the Solana blockchain, The Big Whale reports. The LIBRA controversy led to an estimated $4 billion loss affecting 40,000 investors.
While President Bola Tinubu is not directly linked, members of his team were allegedly involved in discussions.
Kelsier CEO Hayden Davis insists the company controls the funds and denies any wrongdoing, attributing the LIBRA fallout to a sudden policy shift by Milei’s team.
To address the situation, the firm has proposed using a $100 million control fund to repurchase and burn LIBRA tokens.
However, its plans to expand into Nigeria face significant obstacles, given the country’s history with crypto-related fraud and its regulatory environment.
In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria restricted banks from processing crypto transactions, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has increased efforts to combat crypto-related cybercrime.