President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic (CAR) has formally announced the introduction of a memecoin. He said that the memecoin named after his country, CAR, is meant to support national development.
Initially, the memecoin coin had been alleged as a scam. However, on February 10, Président Faustin-Archange Touadéra wrote on his X account, “Today, we are launching $CAR – an experiment designed to show how something as simple as a meme can unite people, support national development, and put the Central African Republic on the world stage in a unique way.”
Today, I stand before you once again with a message of gratitude. The launch of $CAR has been a success!
I want to personally thank each and every one of you, our community, our supporters, and those who believe in our vision. We are building for the long term! pic.twitter.com/gR4QU3sHK5
— Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) February 10, 2025
The token rallied from $0.001 to a peak of $0.8. He wrote on his X account, “Today, I stand before you once again with a message of gratitude. The launch of $CAR has been a success!”
According to the project’s tokenomics, the President said that his government was working with X to restore the memecoin’s account. He also said that the token supply had been “securely locked” through the token management infrastructure platform Streamflow.
After the initial posts, they created a new X account for the memecoin.
Will the crypto industry bring wealth to the Central African Republic?
Despite having minerals like gold and diamonds in large amounts, CAR is one of the poorest countries in the world. Now, the country has opted to use crypto to develop itself.
The launch of the memecoin CAR is not the first time that the nation is trying its luck with the crypto industry. In 2022, CAR became the world’s second country after El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Investors from other countries could also get citizenship for $60,000 worth of crypto. However, the country’s highest court later decided that the plan was unconstitutional.
Président Touadéra said, “As the second president in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, I have always recognized the potential of crypto and its benefits on a global scale.”
The Bitcoin initiative was seen as an easier way to get people to invest in the country’s mining and other businesses. The first crypto initiative that CAR had was launched under the name Sango. However, it was not as successful as planned. In fact, the website no longer works.
Now the CAR memecoin represents a new initiative. The president shared a video of a high school that he said was falling apart. He said that the memecoin would help pay for the school’s “rebuilding and furnishing” and give “students a chance for a better future.”
Meanwhile, the value of CAR dropped 96% in just over 24 hours from its high point on Monday because people weren’t sure if it was real. When it first came out late on Sunday, the market value was about $894 million.
However, CAR has dropped to a low of $0.03 as of early Tuesday. Its market cap is also down to about $29 million. In addition, according to the on-chain data, it made $185 million in trades in 24 hours.
African nations that have adopted the crypto industry
The current president of the US is pro-crypto and a memecoin supporter who launched his own memecoin. The TRUMP memecoin quickly rose in value and it reportedly brought in billions of dollars for President Donald Trump.
However, unlike Mr. Trump, African countries are coming up with an angle to help their nations grow through crypto, and not for personal advantages. However, there have been reports of shady activities in those altruistic endeavors.
Mohammed Dewji, the billionaire CEO of the MeTL Group from Tanzania, released a memecoin called $TANZANIA. He said that his goal was to make Tanzania the first country to use crypto.
However, according to reports, he sent 90 SOL tokens to certain wallets and then bought a huge amount of $TANZANIA before making the contract address public. Mr. Dewji made a lot of money from the first release of tokens. He sold his holdings and allegedly made a big profit of more than $1.4 million.
The crypto industry has been used to make “donations,” but in retrospect, people just take advantage. Time will tell if that is the case for CAR, too.
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