Central African Republic introduces meme coin

The Central African Republic has introduced a meme coin to support national development and raise its international profile. The country's president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, announced the move on the social network X on Sunday, almost three years after his government became the first in Africa to introduce Bitcoin as legal tender. The Bitcoin experiment has since been terminated, and the government is now launching the meme coin $CAR.

“Today we are launching $CAR – an experiment to show how something as simple as a meme can bring people together, support national development and put the Central African Republic on the world stage in a unique way,” Touadera wrote on X. A separate X account set up for updates and announcements about the $CAR was suspended by X on Monday morning, according to Reuters news agency. Touadera said his government was trying to get the account back online as soon as possible.

Failed Bitcoin experiment

In April 2022, the Central African Republic became the second country in the world after El Salvador to make Bitcoin a legal tender. The move attracted a lot of criticism, mainly due to the economic situation and lack of development in the country. Despite raw material deposits such as diamonds, gold and uranium, the Central African Republic is considered one of the poorest countries in the world with high levels of corruption, supply problems, low life expectancy and high infant mortality. Added to this are political instability and a precarious security situation with armed conflicts and attacks, for example by rebel groups. Just under a year after its introduction, the Central African National Assembly decided to withdraw the corresponding law and remove Bitcoin as a legal tender. El Salvador also recently abolished Bitcoin as an official means of payment under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Unlike Bitcoin, meme coins are branded or named crypto tokens that refer to memes or internet trends. They have little practical use and are generally very volatile. Shortly before taking office, US President Donald Trump introduced a meme coin called $Trump at the end of January. This first cryptocurrency from a US president brought huge profits, mainly for those who bought early and sold quickly. Within a few hours, the value of the crypto coin rose to over 70 US dollars, before quickly collapsing again. Hundreds of thousands made losses on the highly speculative investment.

(akn)