President to raise country's profile with meme-coin

Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has launched a meme-coin in a bid to raise the profile of the country, which is one of the world's poorest. A BBC News report notes that meme-coins are used to build popularity for a viral internet trend or movement and fans are inspired to collect and give them value, but they are extremely volatile investments. Touadéra announced the launch, known as $CAR, on his X account over the weekend and on Monday said it had been a ‘success’. But the value of the coin had a significant price drop of up to 90%, according to specialist websites. In 2022, CAR became the world's second country after El Salvador to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. That initiative – launched under the name Sango – does not appear to have been as successful as planned, and its website no longer works. Touadéra described this week's launch of the meme-coin as an ‘experiment’ of something that ‘can unite people, support national development, and put the country on the world stage in a unique way’. Just before his inauguration last month, US President Donald Trump launched his own meme-coin whose value quickly soared, and which reportedly raised billions of dollars for him. The New York Times has reported that it is now worth a quarter of its highest value.

Full BBC News report