Ben Chow, co-founder of the DeFi platform Meteora, has stepped down amid controversy surrounding the Libra memecoin. The announcement was made by Meow, the pseudonymous founder of Solana DEX Jupiter and Meteora, on February 17.
Meow expressed confidence in Chow’s character but criticized his judgment as a project leader.
“While I trust Ben’s character, he showed poor judgment on some key aspects of the project,” Meow stated on X. He confirmed that Chow has resigned, and Meteora will search for new leadership. The Libra memecoin became controversial after Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoted it last Friday, claiming it would help the country’s economy. Libra’s price skyrocketed to billions but quickly collapsed when Milei withdrew his support. The Libra team used Meteora’s platform to create liquidity pools for the token.
Kelsier Ventures CEO Alleges Insider Trading in Libra Memecoin Launch
Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, claimed in an interview with YouTuber Coffeezilla that the Libra team engaged in insider trading by buying their own tokens during the launch. Davis, who also worked on Melania Trump’s MELANIA token, stated that using insider knowledge before a memecoin launch is a common practice. Meanwhile, Chow denied any insider activity involving Libra. He clarified that neither he nor Meteora received tokens or had special access to the project. Chow stated that their only involvement was providing IT support and that they never leaked information or purchased Libra tokens. Chow admitted to introducing Davis and Kelsier Ventures to several projects as token launch partners, including the MELANIA token. He said he trusted Davis and wanted to use Kelsier Ventures as a case study for Meteora’s memecoin platform, M3M3.
Leaked Video Shows Chow Expressing Regret Over Ties to Kelsier Ventures
On February 18, a video surfaced showing a conversation between Chow and Dhirk, founder of DeFiTuna. In the recording, Dhirk accused Kelsier Ventures of insider trading during memecoin launches. He claimed to have witnessed this behavior firsthand during a visit to Barcelona, where he met Kelsier President Dr. Tom Davis.
In the video, Chow denied any involvement but appeared deeply concerned. “I feel sick because I introduced him to Melania. I messed up. I enabled someone I shouldn’t have,” Chow said, suggesting his resignation was the consequence of his misjudgment. Despite Chow’s resignation, Meow supported his claim of having no financial misconduct. Meow assured that neither Meteora nor Jupiter engaged in insider trading. He also announced that Meteora would hire an independent third party to investigate the matter thoroughly.