The $LIBRA Storm: Devastating Consequences for Whales and Internal Secrets

The explosion and collapse of LIBRA - a meme token on the Solana platform - has shocked the cryptocurrency community. Supported by the prominent figure Javier Milei, former presidential candidate of Argentina, LIBRA initially attracted the attention of many investors, from newcomers to large whales. However, just moments after its launch, this token lost over 90% of its value, leading to a series of serious consequences for initial investors.

1. The Story of David Portnoy - The First Whale to be 'Rekt' One of the shocking details of the LIBRA case is the appearance of David Portnoy - one of the famous whales in the crypto world. Portnoy bought a large amount of LIBRA within the first 10 minutes after the token was traded. But instead of making a profit, his wallet recorded one of the deepest losses, ranging from 5.17 million to 5.34 million USD, depending on the valuation time. In a livestream, Portnoy openly shared about what had happened, even stating that he had no qualms about publicly acknowledging receiving a 5 million USDC compensation from an internal transaction. "For the record I could care less that people know Hayden paid me back. I was fully planning on saying it on the live stream but he caught me off guard by texting me in the middle of it and asking me not to mention it..." – This statement not only reveals the large sum but also raises many questions about the relationship between key project figures.
2. Compensation Transaction and Internal Signs Not stopping at accepting failure, on-chain analysis shows that one of the early investors 'just in time' received a compensation of 5 million USDC. This transaction is identified to be from Hayden Mark Davis - the head of the launch management of LIBRA through Kelsier Ventures. This compensation is seen as Davis' effort to alleviate the pressure on the original investors after the project encountered a serious incident. However, the single large transaction from Davis' wallet has also attracted more scrutiny, suggesting potential internal manipulation in the project's launch and operation of LIBRA.
3. Trading Strategies and Valuable Lessons Before witnessing the collapse storm, LIBRA has created significant profit opportunities. Large whales have been able to lock in profits of up to 6.1 million USD if they sell at the right time within the first few minutes after launch. However, with a number of investors selling incorrectly and failing to adjust their strategies in time, the price storm has caused them to bear enormous losses. In particular, Portnoy's transaction chain shows that he actively swaps from SOL to LIBRA without any signs of receiving free token (airdrop). This reinforces the claim that Portnoy has bought in on his own and is not the result of an internal incentive distribution. However, on-chain data also shows that early buyers' trading activities may have been exploited by internal powers to manipulate prices and purposefully create losses for unlucky investors.
4. Market Fluctuations and Liquidity LIBRA Despite encountering a price drop storm, LIBRA continues to be traded on the market. This token once reached a recovery price of over 0.41 USD before falling to around 0.37 USD. Recently, LIBRA's liquidity has also witnessed significant fluctuations; in just a few hours, an additional 3 million USD of liquidity was added, pushing the total pool to over 85 million USD. However, shortly after, the liquidity pool was withdrawn, leaving only about 81 million USD for the most active trading pairs. It is worth noting that the liquidity of LIBRA is still completely unlocked, meaning that anyone can buy and sell without encountering too many barriers. However, this is accompanied by signs of suspicious trading activities and the token has been warned about the possibility of being removed from Solana's ecosystem when its CA is revoked.
5. General Overview and Lessons Learned The LIBRA case has opened up many valuable lessons for the crypto community: The Risk of Meme Tokens: LIBRA, like many other meme tokens, is designed to create rapid spread effects, but also carries extremely high risks. While it can generate quick profits for some investors, it can also easily lead to massive losses if the market turns. Internal Intervention: The transaction compensating 5 million USDC from Hayden Mark Davis's wallet shows the possibility of internal intervention by key figures in the project's launch and operation. This raises doubts about transparency and fairness in emerging cryptocurrency projects. Investment Strategy and Risk Management: Portnoy's case illustrates that even reputable investors cannot avoid risks when participating in highly volatile projects. Early profit locking and having a strict trading strategy are crucial survival factors in the crypto market. Conclusion LIBRA is still a hot topic, attracting the attention of the community not only because of its investment value but also because of the mysteries surrounding the launch and operation of the project. While there may be further investment booms, the risk from the controlled issuance group and signs of suspicious transactions are always present. Investors, especially whales and KOLs, need to carefully consider before deciding to participate, as just one wrong decision can lead to financial disaster like what happened with LIBRA. The story of LIBRA is not only a lesson for the crypto community but also a reminder of transparency, responsibility, and risk management in the ever-changing world of digital finance.