The leader of one of Africa’s poorest nations has mimicked Donald Trump with the launch of a so-called memecoin, only to see its value immediately crash over concerns the project was an elaborate fake.

Faustin-Archange Touadéra, president of the Central African Republic, said on X that the country’s memecoin was “an experiment designed to show how something as simple as a meme can unite people, support national development and put CAR on the world stage in a unique way”.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is entirely driven by speculation and popularity among traders. They began as tokens related to online viral moments or popular cartoons but have since become a means for anyone to raise money quickly, and have been criticised for being similar to “pump and dump” share schemes.