A group of Argentine crypto investors have launched a lawsuit against Javier Milei, an outspoken MP and bitcoin (BTC) advocate who wants to run for president.

The media outlet Clarín reported that a lawyer named Juan Pablo Chiesa, who is representing the group, says that the investors lost around USD 300,000 because they put their money into a project that turned out to be a scam.

In December last year, Milei took to Instagram to post a picture of himself with a member of the team behind a “crypto platform” named CoinX.

That same platform wound down its operations earlier this year after making all-too-familiar claims about guaranteed returns on investment and artificial intelligence-powered trading bots.

In his (still-extant) post, Milei wrote that he had “had the pleasure of” meeting the CoinX team and claimed that the platform was “revolutionizing” investment and “helping Argentines escape from inflation.”

He urged his followers to gain “profits” by using CoinX, and suggested that his 1.3 million followers get in touch with CoinX.

Milei is a Buenos Aires representative for the conservative La Libertad Avanza coalition and has previously expressed admiration for the likes of former US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. He has spoken out in favor of BTC in the past, and said he believes it can play a part in his libertarian vision of the future.

He has expressed a desire to stand in the 2023's Presidential elections and has won a cult following among many younger voters.

Milei, who is known as “el peluca” (“the wig”) due to his distinctive hairstyle, has previously spoken out in favor of New Age ideas such as free love and tantric yoga.

But his support for CoinX, which the regulatory National Securities