Tension in the Mining Sector: Defamation Campaign Against Lithium Tokenization Project Denounced

Pablo Rutigliano, CEO of Atomico 3 S.A., denounced a campaign of defamation and media harassment against him and his company, which is dedicated to the tokenization of lithium-related assets

Key points

• Pablo Rutigliano denounced a media defamation campaign against him and his company Atomico 3 S.A. by traditional mining sectors.

• He accuses CAEM and former members of the Lithium Chamber of orchestrating attacks to halt the tokenization of lithium and maintain an opaque extractive model.

• Atomico 3 defends its pioneering role in the regulation of crypto assets and announced legal action to protect its reputation and technological advances.

In a lengthy statement, Rutigliano attributed these actions to sectors linked to the “Argentine mining caste,” which seek to halt progress toward a model of greater transparency and digitization of extractive activity.

Atómico 3 S.A., a pioneer in the development of blockchain technologies applied to natural resources, has supported the regulatory process promoted by the National Securities Commission (CNV) through General Resolution 1069/2024.

This regulation seeks to lay the foundations for the legal development of crypto assets backed by physical assets such as critical minerals. However, according to the businessman, this advance was seen as a threat by traditional sectors of the mining business, which chose to respond with coordinated attacks.

Rutigliano pointed directly at the Argentine Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs (CAEM), its president Roberto Cacciola, and its executive director Alejandra Cardona, along with former members of the Latin American Chamber of Lithium, Favio Casarín and Andrea Polizzotto, who, he said, were dismissed for statutory breaches. They were joined by businessman Guillermo Sandler, whom he accuses of lacking technical training in blockchain and participating in an operation of “ideological falsehood and reputational damage.”

The most serious aspect of this complaint is the presentation of an alleged accusation without evidence to the CNV, which, if confirmed as false, would constitute a criminal offense under Article 245 of the Penal Code.

According to Rutigliano, this complaint was accompanied by mining cameras and reproduced by “biased” media outlets, with the aim of publicly discrediting Atomico 3 during the Arminera 2025 fair.

The real cause of this offensive, the businessman claims, is an attempt to block the tokenization process of the Salar de Mogna and maintain the status quo of the opaque extractive model.

Finally, he urged those involved to retract their statements within 48 hours and announced that he has already begun legal proceedings to defend his name, that of his company, and the future of a more transparent mining model in Argentina.