The Central African Republic (CAR) has unveiled its own meme coin, a move President Faustin-Archange Touadera described as an effort to raise the country’s profile globally. The announcement was made on X (formerly Twitter) late on Sunday, almost three years after CAR became the first African country, and only the second in the world after El Salvador, to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
Meme coins, which are typically crypto tokens inspired by internet trends or memes, are known for their high volatility and limited practical use. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump launched a meme coin, $Trump, which briefly surged in value to over $14.5 billion before seeing a significant decline.
Despite its rich reserves of gold and diamonds, CAR remains one of the world’s poorest countries, plagued by ongoing rebel violence and underdevelopment. President Touadera emphasized that the $CAR meme coin is an “experiment” aimed at demonstrating how something as simple as a meme can unite people, promote national development, and enhance CAR’s visibility on the global stage.
The $CAR token was valued at $0.22 on Monday morning, according to CoinGecko. However, a separate account dedicated to updates on $CAR was suspended by X as of Monday, with the government working to restore it.
