In an effort to raise the international profile of the Central African Republic (CAR), President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has announced on February 10 the launch of a meme coin.
The initiative, shared on social media platform X, comes nearly three years after the CAR became the first African nation—and only the second in the world after El Salvador—to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The launch of the $CAR token is part of an ambitious plan to increase global recognition for one of the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped nations.
Meme coins are a form of cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes and trends, typically characterised by high volatility and minimal practical application. The $CAR token, which was launched last week on the Solana-based meme coin platform Pump.fun, aims to promote unity, support national development, and bring attention to the Central African Republic on the global stage. At its peak, the coin reached a valuation of $527 million, though, by Monday morning, it was trading at $0.22, according to cryptocurrency tracker CoinGecko. Despite the coin’s volatile nature, President Touadéra sees it as an experiment that could help attract attention and investment.
However, the initiative faced a setback when a dedicated account for updates on the $CAR token was suspended by X. Touadéra assured followers that efforts were underway to restore the account. Despite its natural resources such as gold and diamonds, the CAR remains one of the poorest countries in the world, mired in decades of conflict. The launch of the meme coin aims to show how something as seemingly trivial as a meme can serve as a tool for national development and global engagement, though the project’s future remains uncertain given the risks associated with meme coins.