Libra stages a hunting game: nearly 30% of large holders buy at high positions, over 70,000 addresses are harvested
In the cryptocurrency market, getting in early is often seen as the key to profit, but the collapse of the Libra token has exposed the harsh truth behind this "race for speed."Author: Frank, PANews
In the cryptocurrency market, getting in early is often seen as the key to profit, but the plummet of the Libra token has exposed the harsh reality behind this "race for speed." On-chain data shows that over 27% of large holders bought in at a high of $2.5 within half an hour of the token's issuance, while a mysterious address profited over $2 million through precise targeting. As presidential endorsements become tools for harvesting, insiders on the platform transform into "front-runners," pushing retail investors toward a systemic slaughter in this MEME coin frenzy, which is entangled with insider trading and regulatory gaps.
Nearly 30% of large holders bought at high prices, early investors become heavy losers
PANews conducted an in-depth analysis of the top 1,000 addresses holding assets as of February 17. From the overall purchase cost perspective, the average initial buying cost for the top 1,000 addresses was about $1.01. Among them, a large number of users had an initial buying cost of around $2.5, totaling 254 addresses, accounting for about 27.7%. This means that nearly 30% of large holders started their initial purchases at the peak. The users who bought at the lowest price did so at around $0.15.
In terms of timing, those who bought at peak prices mostly did so within half an hour of the issuance, while those who bought at lower prices mostly entered the market the next day. Historically, the earlier one buys, the more likely they are to acquire low-priced tokens. However, the trend of Libra has broken this market rule, with earlier entrants suffering greater losses. This also reflects that the hype cycle for MEME coins seems to be getting shorter.
In terms of the scale of investment, the victims of Libra appear to be primarily small and medium retail investors, with the average initial investment size for the top 1,000 addresses being $9,696. This investment scale is vastly different from the average initial investment size of $590,000 for TRUMP at that time.
In terms of price range, Libra's price peaked at $4.56, with most large holders' initial purchase prices above $2.5, followed by the $0.3 to $0.4 range. There were almost no large holders entering between $1 and $2.5. The main reasons for this phenomenon may include: first, as prices collapsed rapidly, many early holders had already liquidated their positions. Second, the price range of $1 to $2.5 was only maintained for less than 10 minutes during the earlier surge, seemingly occupied by many insider traders who had already dispersed and liquidated their tokens. During the subsequent crash, it appeared that no large holders were willing to buy in this price range.
In terms of time distribution, most large holders' initial purchases were concentrated on the day of the token issuance, February 14. Although this group seized the time advantage, the outcome of this speed contest was painful.
TRUMP's high-profit addresses reappear, operational details may point to insiders
Previously, when analyzing the TRUMP token, PANews discovered a strong purchasing address, 6QSc2CxSdkUQSXttkceR9yMuxMf36L75fS8624wJ9tXv (hereinafter referred to as 6QSc2). This address spent $1.09 million to buy 5.97 million tokens within one minute of TRUMP's issuance, with potential profits reaching $477 million. Based on the timing of operations, the scale of investment, and discussions on social media, this address is highly likely to be associated with an insider from Jupiter.
During the issuance of Libra, this address was once again involved. cGxeYN6F7T9aELwjLPeL3hnJNscGU7EHg5CEsP4B3Hz (goofyahh.sol) was the main address participating in the purchase this time, and it had previously received TRUMP tokens from 6QSc2. On February 14 at 22:02, two minutes after Libra went live, goofyahh.sol spent $5.7 million to purchase approximately 5 million Libra tokens. It sold all of them within an hour for a total of about $7.34 million, yielding a profit of about $1.6 million. However, compared to the over $20 million profit from the last TRUMP token, the earnings from Libra were evidently modest. 
On February 17, Javier Milei retweeted a LIBRA token purchase tutorial on X, causing LIBRA to briefly surge above $0.7 before dropping back below $0.5 within an hour. During this process, the address invested another $5 million for a short-term trading operation, yielding about $500,000 in profit.
Through these two related wallet operations, there are several reasons this wallet address is considered to be an insider. First, this address has repeatedly targeted other tokens, such as HAWK and CHILLGUY, with similar operational methods. Second, during these two purchases of presidential tokens, there was a significant change in the normal trading scale of this address. Previously, the daily buying scale was around a few hundred dollars. However, during these two token targets, it invested millions. There is no other reason for the address's controller to behave unusually unless they had full confidence. Third, the precise timing of purchases is also noteworthy, as both targets were concentrated within the first five minutes after the token sale, and funds were gathered in advance.
From various on-chain operational details, these targeting addresses are likely related to individuals who had prior insider knowledge and have developed a set of skilled operational methods. Discussions on social media suggest that these addresses are backed by insiders from Jupiter.
About 74,000 addresses suffered losses, multiple stakeholders deny responsibility
However, due to the relatively healthy initial trend of previously issued tokens, early holders were generally able to exit profitably, so not many people delved into these insider trades. In this issuance of Libra, there were evidently more complex forces involved, leading to a rapid collapse of the token and severe losses for countless holders.
According to statistics from wassielawyer, approximately 74,000 addresses suffered losses on Libra, with total losses exceeding $280 million. Among them, over 70,000 addresses had losses of less than $10,000. In the midst of public outrage, the investigation into the dark side behind Libra has become a hot topic on social media.
On February 17, LIBRA project advisor Hayden Davis admitted that the project team engaged in targeting during the launch of LIBRA. Another market maker suspected of participating in the RUG, KIP Protocol, stated that it did not participate in the token issuance and market-making process.
Under public criticism, Meteora's head, Ben, announced his resignation on February 18, but the public statement indicated that his resignation was mainly due to oversight, rather than direct involvement in this token RUG. Ben stated, "The platform and individuals have never privately received or managed any tokens, nor do they participate in off-chain trading. All token releases are strictly confidential. Very few people at Meteora have access to any release information, usually only the individual knows the release time, and only a few minutes before the actual release are the token/mining pool addresses provided to me and one or two on-duty engineers (if any)," adding, "For $LIBRA, apart from providing IT support, I had no involvement in the project, including commenting on liquidity curves and helping to verify the authenticity of the tokens after their public launch."
The founder of Jupiter also issued a lengthy statement on this matter, indicating that an independent third party (law firm Fenwick & West) would be hired to conduct an investigation and release a report. However, social media is not buying it, with Colin Wu pointing out that this law firm was the former main legal advisor for FTX. It is reported that Fenwick & West was also involved in a class action lawsuit in 2023, accused of establishing "shadow entities" to assist FTX's fraudulent activities.
In the midst of the storm, Argentine President Javier Milei has also been sued by lawyers for fraud. However, Milei stated that he is innocent throughout the process and retweeted the LIBRA purchase tutorial in the early hours of February 18, leading to significant fluctuations in LIBRA's price. Milei also stated in a television interview today that he acted in good faith but faced backlash. "The state did not lose; at most, Argentinians lost four or five. The vast majority of investors are Chinese and Americans."
Since former U.S. President Donald Trump issued tokens in early 2025, political figures around the world seem to have found a new way to make money by issuing MEME coins to harvest global investors. According to blogger Pump Pump Superman, among the 11 celebrity tokens recently issued, six have gone to zero, with all declines exceeding 70%, and most declines over 90%.
In fact, celebrity tokens have never seemed to be a wealth code. PANews previously analyzed the TRUMP token and pointed out that TRUMP's maximum increase was not significant; it only appeared exaggerated due to its high market capitalization, while those addresses that profited significantly mainly relied on having substantial investment capital. For retail investors, these tokens, filled with conspiracy or high manipulation, offer almost no chance of winning. Milei also stated that those who participated were very aware of the risks they were taking—"they are volatility traders; this is a private matter between individuals, and all participation is voluntary."
