Meteora Faces Insider Trading Allegations as CEO Ben Chow Resigns

Meteora, a Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) project, is facing insider trading allegations following the dramatic rise and collapse of the LIBRA token, culminating in CEO Ben Chow's resignation.

Chow stepped down earlier this week, according to Meow, the pseudonymous founder of decentralized exchange (DEX) Jupiter and a co-founder of Meteora.

Meteora, known for its lending protocol aggregation and automated market maker (AMM), saw its Total Value Locked (TVL) drop to approximately $1.02 billion on Tuesday, down from $1.52 billion in January, according to DeFiLlama.

Meanwhile, Jupiter’s token, JUP, also dropped amid a widespread selloff of Solana ecosystem tokens, falling 15% in the past 24 hours to $0.68 and a market capitalization of $1.7 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

The controversy stems from the Libra team’s dealings with Meteora to launch the token, sparking concerns over Chow’s alleged ties to the project.

LIBRA, which was promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei, skyrocketed to a valuation of over $4 billion before collapsing just as quickly. Early buyers cashed out millions, while the majority of traders suffered heavy losses.

The sudden crash fueled speculation about a potential "rug pull" and Meteora’s possible involvement. It has also led to a federal investigation in Argentina.

Chow Denies Wrongdoing

In a lengthy statement shared on X on Feb. 16, Chow asserted neither he nor Meteora “received or managed any tokens on the side.” He emphasized that Meteora operates with strict confidentiality and does not engage in off-chain dealings related to token launches.

Chow explained that Meteora’s AMM and Dynamic Liquidity Market Maker (DLMM) are complex, permissionless systems with numerous configuration options for projects launching on the platform. “There are various ways to lock liquidity, assign custody, design liquidity curves, and different ways to combat snipers, including using our Alpha Vault,” he said.

One of the biggest concerns surrounding the Libra situation is sniping – where project insiders purchase large amounts of newly-launched tokens intending to dump them on unsuspecting retail traders.

Many traders speculated on social media that sniping contributed to the rapid rise and fall of the Libra token. Moreover, intelligence platform Arkham linked a wallet that bought $5 million of LIBRA extremely early to the entity that sniped $1 million of the Trump token in the first block of its launch.

Chow noted that he often provides technical support to teams to ensure proper setup, as misconfigurations can severely impact a launch. “Mistakes can seriously impact a launch, and it’s important to Meteora to help teams by configuring the product correctly,” he added.

He acknowledged that Meteora’s DLMM presents challenges for both the team and the projects utilizing it. “One mistake was not prioritizing a launch product so that teams would not need to rely on hand-holding to be successful,” he admitted.

‘Lack of Judgment’

In his post, Meow denied any wrongdoing by Meteora and affirmed that neither the project nor Chow engaged in insider trading or financial misconduct related to LIBRA. He also announced that Fenwick & West, a globally recognized law firm, has been hired to conduct an independent investigation.

“I stand by Ben and his statement. I believe him when he says there was no financial inappropriateness in dealing with partners,” Meow writes. “While I am 100% confident about Ben’s character, as a project lead, he has also shown a lack of judgment and care about some of the core aspects of the project…and this is unfortunately unacceptable.”

Chow’s resignation marks a turning point for Meteora as the platform seeks new leadership amid the fallout. Meow urged the community to be fair to Chow and allow him a chance to clear his name while acknowledging his past contributions.

Libra Controversy

The LIBRA token recorded an explosive rise after Argentine President Javier Milei endorsed it in a Valentine’s Day tweet to his 3.8 million followers. He described it as a “private project” aimed at boosting the Argentine economy.

He shared a link to its website, a token cash tag, and a Solana contract address, pushing the token’s valuation to as high as $4.5 billion within just 30 minutes. But the hype collapsed just as quickly when Milei decided to distance himself from the project a few hours later.

The Argentine president tweeted that he had “obviously no connection” to LIBRA and was unaware of its details when he initially shared it. He ended his post with a jab at the “political caste,” accusing them of trying to exploit the situation for their own gain.

According to BlockWorks data scientist Fernando Molina, nearly 74% of the roughly 44,000 wallets that bought LIBRA on launch day lost money, with losses ranging from $1 to $100,000. Meanwhile, 21% made modest gains of up to $1,000.

The Defiant has reached out to Jupiter founder Meow for comment but has not received a response at the time of publishing.