Conversation with KIP Protocol CEO: Unveiling the Libra project relationship network

Author: Weilin, PANews

The farce of Argentine President Mile promoting the LIBRA token on X platform and then deleting it has passed for nearly 10 days, but the truth behind the incident remains elusive. 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, making huge profits through rug pull. Despite KIP Protocol's series of clarifications, it still remains in the shadow of the incident. As more information is traced and exposed, the initiator of the token, liquidity provider Kelsier Ventures, is gradually coming to light.

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 tweeting about LIBRA after its launch was at the request of an intermediary and based on trust in President Milay's previous X posts. KIP never controlled or led the project but was artificially pushed to the forefront and used as a cover for others. These clarifications present more details of the incident and provide cryptocurrency users with a deeper understanding of the subsequent complex relationships.

Here is the full text of the interview:

PANews: When did KIP come up with the idea and concept for 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 as a party. 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. The project has been described by many as the 'KIP Protocol project', and news reports claiming 'KIP is the issuer', 'KIP is the project development team', 'KIP is the operation team', etc., are completely erroneous and misleading, deceiving the public. The dissemination of these erroneous facts seriously disrupts the public's judgment of the entire event and is very unfair to me and my team.

We were not informed and invited to participate in the Viva La Libertad project by Novelli until February 13, 2025, when we learned that Kelsier was already in charge of the token issuance for 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 promotion tweets for Libra. The token issuance is entirely initiated, managed, and executed by Kelsier's CEO Hayden Davis, as he admitted in his interview with Coffeezilla.

PANews: What is the role of KIP if it is not the initiator?

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 operation at that time. KIP's participation is to help advance the small business financing plan in the project, and to provide infrastructure support for technology companies (including AI-related companies). Our role was originally expected to officially begin after the token issuance phase led by Kelsier. We were never informed of the time of token issuance, nor when our responsibilities would start. KIP did not receive any tokens or fees, nor were we provided with any tokens or fees, nor did we participate in any token issuance process, nor manage any related wallets.

PANews: Why does the name of 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 had gone live without our knowledge and used our brand, the token issuance had already begun, and President Mile had also tweeted support for the project. Despite our concerns about the unapproved website content, there was no time to modify or adjust the website before the token price started to plummet.

PANews: How did KIP establish contact with Argentine President Milei, and how many times did they meet? It was reported that on October 19, 2024, President Milei met with the representative of KIP Protocol in Argentina. You and Mauricio Novelli, the founder of Argentina Techforum, were both present. What is the relationship between Mauricio Novelli and KIP? What role did Mauricio Novelli play in this event?

Julian Peh: First of all, the description of this question is inaccurate. KIP Protocol does not have a position of residing representative in Argentina. Our company does not have any permanent institutions or staff in Argentina, nor has it appointed any company or individual as our representative. In order to develop 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 Mila as the sole representative of KIP Protocol among the speakers.

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

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

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

PANews: What is your relationship with Mauricio Novelli?

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

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 led 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 the tech companies supported in the plan. As a company known for its AI promotion and application plans, we were asked if we were willing to support this initiative and agreed to do so. KIP was not aware of the token issuance date or time in advance. KIP did not promote in any way before the token issuance.

PANews: According to the official statement from Argentina, President held a meeting with Hayden Mark Davis (LIBRA token issuance advisor at 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 luncheon, introduced by the forum organizers Mauricio Novelli and Manu Torrones Godoy. There was no in-depth discussion or talk about any specific projects between both parties.

Before the token was released, Hayden / Kelsier never mentioned to us the Libra token, the Viva La Libertad project, or any token-related projects. Before the collapse of the Libra token price, we had no communication with Hayden. It was only after the token was issued and misunderstandings arose that I had to talk to Hayden to understand the specifics of the situation, which was our first contact. Hayden Davis has never received instructions from KIP Protocol. Hayden Davis also does not represent KIP Protocol. We have never introduced Hayden or Kelsier to anyone.

PANews: Why did KIP choose to collaborate with Kelsier Ventures as a market maker? Do you have any understanding of their working methods before? Kelsier Ventures, along with outsourced Indian market makers, are also insiders of tokens such as MELANIA, ENRON, BOB, RAG associated with Mrs. Trump. Are you aware of this and familiar with these backgrounds?

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

PANews: Why does KIP release supportive remarks, and why does it release statements 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 15 Beijing time, Mauricio Novelli requested us to post content supporting the project on X. We tweeted at 11:36, with both English and Spanish content provided by Novelli. We did this based on trust in the post about the project by President Milae, which shared details of the project at the time. We hope the project can succeed because we believe its claimed goal - to provide funding support for Argentine companies - is a mission worth supporting. After we posted the tweet, President Milae deleted the related content he had originally posted on X. We were forced to claim the project and initially faced a lot of anger and attacks that we couldn't clarify.

PANews: Why did KIP CEO Julian Peh reply to a large number of posts on X and start hosting Space despite stating that he has nothing to do with 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 threatened with death and harassed, 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 Space. At that time, I didn't know what had happened because I couldn't contact Mauricio Novelli. Under pressure, I thought the best course of action was to speak out to protect myself and the team, but at that time I didn't have a clear understanding of the overall situation. It wasn't until several hours later that we first contacted Hayden Davis.

PANews: Did you communicate with Milley before and after he deleted Twitter? At present, President Milley and his opposition have launched anti-corruption investigations into the issuance of Libra coins, have these investigations affected KIP so far? How do you and the project respond?

Julian Peh: Apart from the meeting on October 19th, we have never had any communication with President Milai or the President's Office. I believe that President Milai cannot fully distinguish the relationship and differences between the $Libra token and the "Viva la Libertad" project. He is also not completely aware of the various relationships, as well as the stage at which I and the KIP Protocol we represent are providing services. I hope President Milai can see our statement and understand the truth of the matter.

PANews: How will KIP rebuild community trust in the future and ensure the full protection of user interests?

Julian Peh: We are highly cooperative with any investigation that can uncover 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 level of technology in the industry. Currently, the team will actively focus on the launch of our long-developed new AI product. As a Singaporean AI technology company, KIP Protocol has always been committed to promoting development in the AI ecosystem.

PANews: In the face of significant losses by many users, does KIP Protocol have any compensation strategies? It is said that some KOLs have already received compensation? (It is rumored that the founder of Barstool bought LIBRA at a loss of $5.34 million and later received $5 million in compensation)

Julian Peh: We express deep sympathy for the users' experience, but we are not responsible for the $LIBRA project, Kelsier Ventures is, and we cannot interfere or suggest compensation plans. Kelsier Ventures has never and does not follow KIP's instructions. Instead, I and the KIP Protocol are victims in this incident, implicated by them before substantial cooperation, and we will seek compensation through legal means. At the same time, my team and I are working hard to mitigate the unwarranted losses suffered by KIP's own project in this incident, and reduce the impact on our users.

PANews: KIP's investor Animoca Brands has also clarified that they are unaware of the token issuance. Did any investment institution have prior knowledge of or participate in this token issuance event?

Julian Peh: KIP did not participate in the $Libra issuance process at all, so it is impossible to notify any investment institution at all.

PANews: Jupiter, Meteora and other platforms are accused of profiting on Libra, but later these projects denied it. Is there any cooperation between KIP and these projects?

Julian Peh: Not at all, KIP Protocol is not a company that helps organizations issue tokens. This is not our business, KIP does not need to connect 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 idea 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 two questions above. In this regard, what we have lost is permanent reputation and great harm to the team.