Conversation with KIP Protocol CEO: Revealing the longer network of relationships with Libra project, who only joined two days before the coin issuance, does not control the funds but was pushed to the forefront.

Author: Weilin, PANews

The farce of Argentine President Mile's promotion of LIBRA tokens on X platform and then deleting it has passed for nearly 10 days, but the truth behind the incident is still shrouded in mystery. When the incident occurred on February 15, Mile's deletion of the LIBRA tweet caused a token crash, resulting in significant losses for many crypto users. At that time, KIP Protocol was identified as the initiator of the LIBRA token, profiting immensely through a rug pull. Despite KIP Protocol's release of a series of clarifying statements, it is still under the shadow of the event. With more information being traced and exposed, the initiator of the token, and the market maker Kelsier Ventures, gradually emerged.

After the incident, PANews contacted KIP Protocol's CEO Julian Peh for an interview. Julian responded positively to the incident, stating that KIP did not initiate the Libra project or Project Viva La Libertad. KIP was only invited to join the project on February 13 and did not profit from it. The reason for posting related tweets after the LIBRAlaunch coin was at the request of an intermediary and based on trust in President Mile's X post. KIP has never controlled or led the project, but has been artificially pushed to the forefront and used as a cover for other individuals. These clarifications present more details of the incident and allow crypto users to have a deeper understanding of the subsequent complex relationships.

Here is the full text of the interview:

PANews: When did KIP start having the idea and concept of the Viva la Libertad project? Who are the participants in this project, and what role does KIP play in it?

**Julian Peh：**First of all, I would like to reiterate that the project was not initiated and conceived by KIP. We were invited to participate in the project. KIP Protocol did not initiate the Viva la Libertad project, nor did it manage or lead the $Libra token issuance process. We did not receive any tokens before or after the token issuance, nor did we profit from the token issuance. Neither the $Libra token project nor the Viva la Libertad project actually involved the KIP team. Describing the project as the "KIP Protocol project," reporting that "KIP is the launch coin party," "KIP is the project development team," and "KIP is the operation team" are completely false and misleading facts, which deceive the public. The dissemination of these erroneous facts seriously disrupts the public's judgment of the entire event, and is also very unfair to me and my team.

We were not notified and invited to participate in the Viva La Libertad project by Novelli until February 13, 2025. At that time, we learned that Kelsier was already in charge of the token issuance related to the project. Prior to this, there had been no discussions between KIP and Kelsier Project Viva La Libertad or any related parties. We were explicitly told that we did not need to participate in any token-related activities, so KIP did not make any promotional tweets about Libra. The token issuance is entirely initiated, managed, and executed by Kelsier's CEO Hayden Davis, who acknowledged this fact in his interview with Coffeezilla.

**PANews: If KIP is not the initiator, what is its role?

Julian Peh: On February 13, 2025, Mauricio Novelli introduced us to the concept of the project and informed us that Kelsier was already in charge of the project's operations at that time. KIP's involvement is to assist in advancing the small business financing plan within the project, as well as providing infrastructure support for tech companies (including AI-related companies). Our role was originally expected to officially begin after the token issuance phase managed by Kelsier. We were never informed of the timing of the token issuance, nor were we informed of when our responsibilities would start. KIP did not receive any tokens or fees, nor were any tokens or fees provided to us, nor did we participate in any token issuance process or manage any related wallets.

**PANews: Why does the name KIP appear on the Viva La Libertad project website?

Julian Peh: The website of the Viva La Libertad project was not created by KIP, and we had not seen its content before going live. KIP does not own or control the website. Mauricio Novelli told us that the website is operated by Kelsier, but we cannot verify this. When we discovered that the website went live without our knowledge and used our brand, the token issuance had already started, and President Mile had also tweeted in support of the project. Although we are concerned about the website content not being reviewed or approved, there was no time to modify or adjust the website before the token price started to plummet.

PANews: How did KIP get in touch with Argentine President Milley, and how many times did they meet? According to reports, on October 19, 2024, President Milley met with the representative of KIP Protocol in Argentina, when you were present with Mauricio Novelli, the founder of Argentina Techforum, what is Mauricio Novelli's relationship with KIP? What role did Mauricio Novelli play in this incident? **

Julian Peh: First of all, the description of this question is inaccurate. KIP Protocol does not have a position for a resident representative in Argentina. My company does not have any permanent institutions or staff in Argentina, nor has it appointed any company or individual as a representative. In order to expand into the South American market, as one of the main sponsors of the "Argentina Techforum," I gave a speech at the forum on October 19, 2024, and met with President Mile as the sole representative of KIP Protocol among the speakers.

This is my only meeting with President Mile. We were introduced by the forum's founder Mauricio Novelli. President Mile was the last heavyweight speaker at the 'Argentina Techforum' that day. Mauricio Novelli introduced me as a representative of KIP Protocol to President Mile.

Milai and I talked for about 30 minutes through the interpreter about our desire to expand more business in Argentina, AI, technology. The president talked about his economic ideas. There was no mention of any token issuance or any specific measures at that time. The Viva La Libertad project and Libra were not mentioned at this meeting on October 19, 2024.

KIP is a technology company focused on AI artificial intelligence. We were known for our AI promotion and application plan at that time. We do not engage in the business of issuing organizational tokens. This is the only time I have seen President Milei. Since then, neither I nor KIP have had any further contact with the president or his office.

PANews: What is your relationship with Mauricio Novelli?

**Julian Peh：**We first established contact with Novelli at the Tech Forum Argentina conference in October 2024. KIP is one of the main sponsors of the conference (ranked second in the list of sponsors), and Novelli is one of the main organizers of the conference. KIP has never hired Novelli or his company as our representative, agent, or consultant.

On February 13, 2025, Novelli invited us to join the Viva La Libertad plan. He told us that the issuance of $Libra tokens would be handled by Hayden Davis of Kelsier, and KIP would not be involved in any token-related activities. KIP's involvement is limited to subsequent small business financing plans and providing AI infrastructure for tech companies supported in the plan. As a company known for its AI promotion and application programs, we were asked if we were willing to support this initiative, to which we agreed. KIP was not informed in advance of the token issuance date or time. KIP also did not promote in any way before the token issuance.

**PANews: According to the official statement of Argentina, the president held a meeting with Hayden Mark Davis (LIBRA Token Issuance Advisor, Kelsier Ventures) at Casa Rosada on January 30, 2025. What is the relationship between Hayden Mark Davis and KIP? What is your relationship with Hayden Davis/Kelsier?

Julian Peh: During the Tech Forum Argentina 2024 in October 2024, we met Hayden Davis at the sponsor's luncheon, introduced by the forum organizers Mauricio Novelli and Manu Torrones Godoy. There was no in-depth discussion or specific project talk between the two parties.

Prior to the token launch, Hayden/Kelsier never mentioned the Libra token, the Viva La Libertad project, or any token-related projects to us. We didn't have any communication with Hayden prior to the collapse of the Libra token price. It was only after the token issuance and misunderstanding that I had to talk to Hayden in order to understand the specifics of the incident, which was our first contact. Hayden Davis has never been instructed by KIP Protocol. Hayden Davis also does not represent the KIP Protocol. We've never told anyone about Hayden or Kelsier.

**PANews: Why did KIP choose to cooperate with Kelsier Ventures as a market maker? Do you have any understanding of their working methods before? Kelsier Ventures is also an insider of outsourced Indian market makers and tokens such as MELANIA, ENRON, BOB, RAG, etc., associated with Mrs. Trump. Are you aware of this background?

Julian Peh: There was no situation where KIP chose to partner with Kelsier Ventures, neither in terms of timeline nor workflow. At that time, neither my team nor I were aware of it, nor did we understand the background. This is not within our business scope and range of work. We had not even directly contacted Kelsier Ventures and Hayden Davis until the incident occurred.

PANews: Why did KIP release a statement of support, and why did it release the claim that it is not a scam (including Julian's personal response to X Space)? If KIP has nothing to do with token issuance, why post on X to support Libra?

Julian Peh: At 11:25 on February 15th Beijing time, Mauricio Novelli requested us to post content supporting the project on X. We tweeted at 11:36, with the English and Spanish content provided by Novelli. The reason we did this was based on the trust in President Milae's post on X at the time, which shared details of the project. We hope the project can succeed because we believe its claimed goal - to provide funding support to Argentine companies - is a very worthy mission. After we posted the tweet, President Milae deleted the relevant content he had originally posted on X. We were forced to claim the project and initially faced a lot of anger and attacks, unable to clarify.

PANews: Why did KIP CEO Julian Peh continue to reply to a large number of posts on X and start hosting Space after declaring that he was not involved in token issuance?

Julian Peh: After the token price collapsed, a lot of anger and emotions were directed towards me, KIP, and its team. KIP team members, especially female members, have been subjected to death threats and harassment, and even personal information has been leaked. I decided to focus all attention in one place, so I replied to many posts and started hosting a Space. At that time, I was not aware of what had happened because I couldn't contact Mauricio Novelli. Under pressure, I believed the best course of action was to speak out to protect myself and the team, but I didn't have a clear understanding of the overall situation at that time. It wasn't until several hours later that we first made contact with Hayden Davis.

**PANews: Have you communicated with Mile before and after deleting the tweet? Currently, President Mile and his opposition have launched anti-corruption investigations into Libralaunch coin, have these investigations affected KIP? How do you and the project respond?

Julian Peh: Apart from the meeting on October 19th, we have never had any communication with President Moïse or the presidential office. I believe that President Moïse cannot fully distinguish the relationship and differences between the $Libra token and the 'Viva la Libertad' project, nor does he fully understand the relationship with issue coin, and the stage at which KIP Protocol, represented by me, provides services. I hope President Moïse can see our statement and understand the truth of the matter.

**PANews: How will KIP rebuild community trust in the future and ensure that users' interests are fully protected?

Julian Peh: We will fully cooperate with any investigation that can reveal the truth. We won the Tencent Cloud Award at the Chainlink Hackathon at the end of 2023, and KIP's products have always maintained the cutting-edge technology in the industry. Currently, the team will actively focus on launching our long-developed new AI product. As a Singaporean AI technology company, KIP Protocol has always been committed to enhancing development in the AI ecosystem.

PANews: In the face of substantial losses for many users, does KIP Protocol have any compensation strategy? It is said that some KOLs have already received compensation? (It is rumored that the founder of Barstool suffered a loss of 5.34 million USD by buying LIBRA at a certain address, and later received a compensation of 5 million USD)

Julian Peh: We express deep sympathy for the users' experience, but we are not responsible for the $LIBRA project, Kelsier Ventures is. We cannot intervene or suggest compensation plans. Kelsier Ventures has neither followed nor listened to KIP's instructions. Instead, I and KIP Protocol, as victims in this incident, have been implicated by them before any substantive cooperation. We will seek compensation through legal means. At the same time, my team and I are doing our utmost to mitigate the damage caused by this incident to the KIP project itself and reduce the unwarranted losses suffered by our users.

PANews: KIP investor Animoca Brands has also clarified that they are unaware of the launch coin, whether any investment institutions are aware of or involved in this launch coin event?

**Julian Peh：**KIP did not participate in the $Libralaunch coin process, so it is impossible to notify any investment institutions at all.

**PANews: Jupiter, Meteora and other platforms were accused of profiting from Libra, but these projects later denied it. Does KIP have any cooperation with these projects?

**Julian Peh：**Absolutely not, KIP Protocol is not a company that helps organizations issue coins. This is not our business, and KIP does not need to interface with these platforms.

**PANews: Do you think the current situation regarding Libra violates the original intention of the project? Will Libra continue to operate according to the original concept to support the economic development of Argentina?

Julian Peh: As the victim rather than the initiator of this incident, we are unable to answer the above two questions. In this regard, what we have lost is our permanent reputation and significant harm to the team.