Meteora Co-Founder Ben Chow Resigns Amid Libra Meme Coin Controversy
Ben Chow, co-founder of Meteora, has stepped down from his role following the controversy surrounding the Libra meme coin, according to an announcement by Meow, the pseudonymous founder of Solana-based DEX Jupiter.
Meow, who also co-founded Meteora, stated on X on Monday that while he remains confident in Chow’s character, the lack of judgment displayed in handling key aspects of the project led to his resignation.
Libra ‘Rug Pull’ Shakes Crypto Industry
The Libra meme coin became a hot topic last Friday when Argentina’s President Javier Milei publicly endorsed the token as part of an initiative to boost the country’s economy.
Following Milei’s support, Libra’s market value skyrocketed, only to plummet after the president withdrew his backing.
The Libra development team had created liquidity pools for the token on Meteora, linking the project to the broader scandal.
Further fueling the controversy, Hayden Davis, CEO of Kelsier Ventures, stated in an interview with YouTuber Coffeezilla that the Libra team engaged in insider trading, or sniping, of its own token at launch.
Ben chow (Meteora) resigned today according to a statement from @weremeow, Meteora's cofounder… citing a "lack of judgement"
I don't think we've heard the end of this. https://t.co/JoQqzs69GR pic.twitter.com/Fers1p2LLd
— Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT) February 18, 2025
Davis, who was also involved in Melania meme coin, claimed that pre-launch insider access is standard practice in major meme coin launches.
In a statement on X, Chow defended himself and Meteora, claiming that neither he nor the company received any Libra tokens or had insider knowledge about the project.
“For $LIBRA, although we were made aware of the possibility of it several weeks ago by Hayden, we had no involvement in the project at all beyond providing IT support,” Chow stated.
He emphasized that neither he nor his team leaked information or profited from the launch of the token.
Chow admitted to referring Davis and Kelsier Ventures to other projects as token deployers, believing them to be trustworthy based on prior interactions.
He also revealed that he had initially engaged Kelsier Ventures to help launch Meteora’s memecoin AMM platform in December 2024, using it as a case study for their technology.
Leaked Video Raises Further Questions
A video posted on X by SolanaFloor on Monday further complicated the situation.
In the footage, DefiTuna founder Dhirk is seen informing Chow about Davis’ misconduct in various memecoin launches, claiming that he had personally witnessed members of Kelsier Ventures engaging in insider trading during a trip to Barcelona.
🚨 BREAKING: SolanaFloor has obtained exclusive video evidence exposing a $200M+ memecoin extraction scheme tied to @KelsierVentures , @MeteoraAG and @WEAREM3M3_ .
The footage, featuring DeFi Tuna Founder @CavemanDhirk and Ben Chow, lends further credibility to allegations of… pic.twitter.com/rjPLBgKCjG
— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) February 17, 2025
In the video, Chow appears visibly shocked, consistently denying his or Meteora’s involvement in any wrongdoing.
At one point, he expresses regret over introducing Davis to other projects, including the Melania token.
“I feel so sick, because I gave him Melania,” Chow said. “I fucked up because I enabled the guy that should not have been enabled … I’m going to have to step down, I’m going to have to quit.”
Despite Chow’s resignation, Meow stated that he stands by Chow’s claim that no financial misconduct took place within Meteora or Jupiter.
To address concerns, he announced that the team would bring in an independent third-party investigator to review the situation and ensure transparency.
Source: cryptonews.com
