Argentine President Javier Milei's brief social media endorsement of the Libra memecoin turned sour as an estimated 86% of traders that took stake in the cryptocurrency lost a combined $251M in a swift crash,

A new report cites text messages that appear to show the crypto mogul bragging about exerting some sort of control over the Argentinian leader.

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.”

The budding scandal in Argentina has been dubbed locally as “cryptogate” and has links to a diverse cast of characters, including a high-profile U.S. influencer, a crypto developer who uses the pseudonym “Meow,” and a 28-year-old American entrepreneur who said he helped launch first lady Melania Trump’s meme coin last month.

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.”

Argentina's president faces his first major political crisis as the so-called "cryptogate" scandal shakes his credibility. The failed cryptocurrency endorsement sparks legal trouble, political fallout and media backlash.