- Watchdog says CAR crypto projects were rushed, regulated, and open to abuse.
- Sango Coin and $CAR attracted investors but delivered little benefit to citizens.
- Report found no clear proof crypto revenues entered national budget properly ever.
The Central African Republic once promised the world a bold leap into the future of money. Under President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, cryptocurrency was presented as a shortcut to modernization, foreign investment, and national development. For a country struggling with poverty, conflict, and weak institutions, the message sounded hopeful.
Projects like Sango Coin and later the $CAR meme coin were promoted as tools to modernize the economy, attract global investors, and fund development.
However, a detailed investigation by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GIATC) shows these initiatives may have done the opposite. Instead of helping citizens, the report argues that the crypto strategy opened the door to corruption, elite enrichment, and foreign criminal influence.
Most citizens lacked electricity, internet access, or smartphones, making meaningful participation in crypto nearly impossible.
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Big Promises, Little Benefit for Citizens
In April 2022, the Central African Republic became the second country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender. Regional banking regulators and international institutions immediately warned about financial instability, money laundering, and fraud risks. Within a year, lawmakers reversed the decision under pressure.
Still, the government pushed ahead. Sango Coin was introduced as a national digital currency backed by bitcoin and natural resources. Foreign investors were offered:
- Digital residency and land access
- Entry into mining and forestry projects
- Long-term resource concessions paid in crypto
Grand plans included a crypto city and new infrastructure. But reality fell short. Only about 10% of Sango Coins were sold, raising less than €2 million. The platform later went offline, and promised developments never appeared.
Tokenizing Land and Resources
In 2023, lawmakers approved a law allowing land and natural resources such as gold, timber, oil, and farmland to be tokenized on the blockchain. Financial watchdogs raised alarms, noting the government had not properly assessed the risks of virtual assets. Cryptocurrencies are widely used by criminal networks for:
- Money laundering
- Fraud and scams
- Sanctions evasion
- Terror financing
$CAR Meme Coin Adds To The Controversy
After Sango Coin faded, President Touadéra announced the launch of $CAR, a meme-based cryptocurrency, in February 2025. Promoted as a way to boost global awareness, the launch was chaotic. The website briefly went offline, and the token’s value swung wildly.
$CAR surged to a market value above $900 million before crashing more than 75%. Later, 1,700 hectares of land were tokenized and sold using $CAR, but investigators found no clear evidence that proceeds were recorded in the national budget.
According to GIATC, what was marketed as innovation now looks like another system that benefited powerful insiders, while ordinary citizens continued to face hardship.
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