Leader of the Central African Republic launches Meme-Coin ‘Experiment’

The president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, has launched a mountain of memes in an attempt to raise the profile of the country, which is one of the poorest in the world.

Meme coins are used to generate popularity for a viral trend or movement on the Internet and fans are inspired to collect and give them value, but they are extremely volatile investments.

Toucéra announced the launch, known as $ Car, in his account X over the weekend and on Monday he said it had been a “success.” But the value of the currency had a significant price drop of up to 90%, according to specialized websites.

In 2022, the car became the second country in the world after El Salvador to adopt the Bitcoin of cryptocurrency as a legal tender.

That initiative, launched under the name of Sango, does not seem to have been as successful as it is planned, and its website no longer works.

It was seen as an easy way to attract investors to mining and other industries in the country using Bitcoin. The country has rich mineral deposits, including gold and diamonds.

Foreign investors could also obtain citizens for $ 60,000 in cryptography, although the plan later declared himself unconstitutional by the main court of the country.

Toucéra described the launch of this Meme-Coin week as an “experiment” of something that “can unite people, support national development and put the (country) on the world stage in a unique way.”

But some expressed their fear that it could have been a scam.

On Monday, Toucéra thanked those who believed in their vision.

He shared a video of a high school that, according to him, had deteriorated rapidly, saying that the meme-coin would help support their “reconstruction and furniture” and give “students the opportunity for a better future.”

Despite its potential, the car remains one of the poorest countries, a situation complicated by a civil war that has devastated much of the country.

The currencies meme often have been criticized by their speculative nature, where users create or buy them with the hope that their value will rise quickly, but many end up losing money with them.

Just before its inauguration last month, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, launched his own mountain of memes whose value shot quickly, and that according to the reports raised billions of dollars for him. The New York Times has reported that it is now worth a quarter of its highest value.