The report from Nansen confirms that more than 13,000 LIBRA memecoin investors have recorded losses of over $1,000, with total losses reaching $251 million.
86% of LIBRA investors lost more than $1,000, with total losses of $250 million. Image: CryptoSlate
On February 19, the on-chain analysis platform Nansen released a detailed report on the collapse of the LIBRA memecoin in recent days. This report has shed light on many important details about how LIBRA was manipulated through insider trading, organized sniping wallets after the token's launch, and detailed statistics on the huge profits a small group of insiders made by dumping LIBRA.
According to Nansen's report, out of 15,430 LIBRA trading wallets, 13,329 wallets (86%) suffered losses, with total losses exceeding $251 million, of which the 15 most heavily loss-making wallets lost a total of $33.7 million, with one wallet still holding 57% of the initial tokens.
Statistics on losses from LIBRA memecoin trading wallets. Source: Nansen
Nansen revealed that the largest loss was recorded by Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, with a figure of up to $6.3 million. In fact, this figure could be even higher, as Portnoy had previously accidentally spent $170,000 to buy a counterfeit version of LIBRA.
Despite suffering heavy losses, Portnoy was later refunded $5 million, a detail that has sparked much controversy. On-chain data has confirmed this cash flow, and Hayden Davis also acknowledged it in an interview with Coffeezilla on February 17.
A notable finding from Nansen is the wallet XRFKhaCA, which lost $407,000 when it bought $6.5 million worth of LIBRA but only sold $6.1 million, but this wallet is directly linked to the address dysphoria.sol with a questionable transaction history. dysphoria.sol not only profited from LIBRA, but also made significant gains from other famous memecoins:
- Profit of $341,000 from LIBRA
- Earned $11.6 million from TRUMP
- Received $655,000 from MELANIA
Most recently, on February 18, dysphoria.sol also participated in trading the GREED token, a new memecoin promoted by Dave Portnoy. However, this transaction did not bring significant profits, as the wallet only made $7,000 in profit before GREED plummeted more than 90% shortly after listing.
These massive figures and on-chain data suggest that dysphoria.sol is not simply an individual trader, but appears to be part of the "dark forces" behind the manipulation and profiting of millions of dollars from recent memecoin pump-and-dump schemes.
Meanwhile, the group that benefited from the LIBRA token consists of only 2,101 wallets with total profits exceeding $180 million.
Statistics on profits from LIBRA memecoin trading wallets. Source: Nansen
There are a total of 57 wallets that participated in trading from the beginning, of which 37 wallets made over $1,000 in profits, suggesting these are likely automated trading bots rather than whales injecting millions of dollars. Notably, two special wallets quickly bought LIBRA at 22:01 UTC and closed their positions just 43 minutes later at 22:44 UTC, making a total of $5.4 million. Of these, the HyzGo2 wallet made the most, earning $5.1 million in this time frame.
The whale wallet that profited the most from LIBRA pocketed around $25 million. On-chain data shows that the 8bZsrR wallet swapped 1.7 million USDC to buy 12.3 million LIBRA tokens at 22:01 UTC on February 14. Instead of selling immediately, this wallet transferred all the tokens to 7 other wallets.
According to Nansen's on-chain analysis model, any token transfer out of a wallet is counted as a sell action, leading to the $25 million profit figure. However, by digging deeper into the subsequent transactions, it can be seen that the wallets that received LIBRA from 8bZsrR sold at different times, and some even sold at a loss compared to the token price when received.
In addition to the recorded profits and losses, there are still many wallets holding LIBRA. Specifically, 1,001 wallets still hold the token with a total unrealized loss of around $11 million, while only 71 wallets still have profits, but this number has decreased significantly, down to just $540,000 as of 8:00 AM UTC on February 18.
Statistics on unrealized profits/losses from LIBRA memecoin trading wallets. Source: Nansen
Notably, not only LIBRA investors suffered losses, but Solana - the layer-1 blockchain where this memecoin was issued - also had to bear heavy losses. Since February 14, the price of SOL has plummeted 16%, while the TVL of the ecosystem has dropped sharply from $12.1 billion to only $8.29 billion.
SOL price movement in the past 7 days, screenshot taken on CoinGecko at 11:00 AM on February 20, 2025
Solana TVL statistics. Source: DefiLlama (February 20, 2025)
Nevertheless, the collapse of LIBRA has exposed the true face of political memecoins and the celebrities backing them. This scandal not only clarifies the insider trading in the current memecoin market, but also unveils a series of market manipulation tactics.
New evidence continues to emerge, revealing a manipulation scheme involving memecoin worth over $200 million on Solana, with LIBRA being just the tip of the iceberg. Hayden Davis, the central figure in the LIBRA case, has admitted to sniping tokens from the very beginning, and is also accused of paying Karina Milei, the sister of the President of Argentina, to manipulate Milei's social media promotion of LIBRA. These revelations show that bribery and manipulation of public opinion to pump memecoin prices is not uncommon.
Not only LIBRA, the TRUMP memecoin has also been exposed to have signs of insider trading, as a group of powerful figures bought over $500 million worth of TRUMP tokens in a private party before the token was officially listed. Statistics from Chainalysis also show that most holders of TRUMP and MELANIA have made less than $100 in profits. This once again shows that the current memecoin market is being seriously manipulated, where those in control can easily make hundreds of millions of dollars, while small investors are the ones who suffer the losses.
Compiled by Coin68
