Argentine President Javier Milei is facing calls for impeachment after promoting a little-known cryptocurrency, whose price soared then collapsed after his endorsement, leading to losses for thousands of investors.

Argentinian President Javier Milei mocked opposition efforts to impeach him amid accusations of fraud after a cryptocurrency he shared on social media crashed, inflicting big losses on those who bought in.

Argentinian president Javier Milei is facing calls for impeachment and a possible criminal investigation for his role in the rise and fast collapse of a memecoin.

Here’s what happened: Late Friday night, Milei fired off a tweet lending his support to a cryptocurrency token called $LIBRA. Milei described the coin to his nearly four million followers as a “private project dedicated to encouraging the growth of the Argentine economy,” claiming that it would be “funding small Argentine businesses and ventures.”

President Javier Milei of Argentina is confronting impeachment calls following his promotion of the cryptocurrency $LIBRA, which experienced a meteoric rise and subsequent collapse, leading to significant financial losses for investors.

Argentina's ex-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, branded Milei a "crypto scammer" on social media and accused him of turning “Argentina into a casino.”

Milei could face an impeachment trial in Congress, opposition lawmakers said, after he touted a cryptocurrency which crashed soon after.

The Argentinian president faces impeachment charges for endorsing a crypto rug pull, via the same network that apparently launched Melania Trump’s memecoin.

In a television interview, Milei said the scandal was a "slap in the face", and he described himself as a "techno-optimist" who was just trying to "help fund Argentine projects". Lashing out at political opponents who had criticised him, he said that "every day they confirm how lowly politicians are".

The President has been accused by some people of carrying out a "rug pull" - a ploy to attract buyers to drive up the value of a coin, before a quick sell off to pocket the cash.