Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra launched a meme coin called $CAR, describing it as an “experiment” aimed at raising the country’s profile and supporting national development.
A meme coin is a cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes or jokes, often gaining popularity through online communities and social media hype rather than practical use or underlying technology.
Despite initial claims of success, the value of the $CAR coin dropped significantly, with reports indicating a decline of up to 90% shortly after its launch.
The CAR token experienced a significant rise in market capitalization, reaching a peak of approximately $600 million. However, it subsequently suffered a dramatic decline, falling to around $35 million as of yesterday.
That’s usually how it goes with meme coins, isn’t it? They rise quickly and fall even faster. So, it’s not a knock on President Touadéra and his team.
However, seeing as all meme coins have all but crashed, some thought this $CAR was a scam. I get this thinking because if you know your asset (cyber or otherwise) is most likely going to lose its value in no time, and you launch it anyway and invite the world to invest in it, you’re right on the line between trying new things and scamming people.
Dear Zimbo, I’m sure you can see the parallels between this and the Zim government launching currencies they know will lose most of their value almost immediately. If they honestly didn’t know that, then they all need to resign.
Anyway, back to CAR. While some view the meme coin as a potential scam, Touadéra expressed gratitude to supporters, claiming it would help rebuild a deteriorating high school and improve students’ futures.
It appears that our dear Touadéra is just one of those guys who will try thinking outside the box. Seeing as his country is even poorer than Zimbabwe, I guess going big is a good tactic.
The Central African Republic remains one of the world’s poorest countries, a situation made worse by ongoing civil conflict, which complicates efforts to attract foreign investment. We feel you, CAR. We, too, have a difficult task trying to attract foreign investment.
In 2022, CAR adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the second country to do so after El Salvador, but the initiative faced challenges, and its associated website is no longer operational. You can’t win them all.
The previous Bitcoin initiative allowed foreign investors to obtain citizenship for $60,000 in cryptocurrency, although this plan was later deemed unconstitutional.
Listen, I’m not saying Zimbabwe should adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, even though it has only risen in value while currency after currency in Zimbabwe has crashed. I’m not even saying Zimbabwe should launch its own meme coin.
All I’m saying is that our backs are against the wall, and now is the time to think outside the box. The CAR president is on to something.
This is a bit shallow. As you said we rich but our management is totally inept. We just need sound economics and a stop on curroption. It’s simple but these thieves have warped our logical thinking. There’s absolutely no need for risky gambles