$CAR: Central African Republic launches meme coin

As part of its plan to raise its global status, the Central African Republic (CAR) has launched a meme coin, $CAR. The country, which has adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, looks to raise its profile as one of the world’s poorest nations with the meme coin. 

Announced via an X post on Sunday by the Central African Republic President Faustion-Archange Touadera, he expressed that the official meme coin for the country $CAR is targeted at aiding national development and putting the nation on the international stage.

Despite being rich in gold and diamond reserves, CAR remains one of the world’s poorest and underdeveloped nations with years of rebel violence and economic instability.

$CAR launch comes amidst the recent trend of meme coins gaining traction in the crypto market, such as the $Trump token launched by the U.S. President Donald Trump which briefly surged to a market value of over $14.5 billion before experiencing a sharp decline.

While explaining the country’s decision, the President said the $CAR meme coin is “an experiment designed to show how something as simple as a meme can unite people, support national development, and put the Central African Republic on the world stage in a unique way.”  

Meme coins are cryptocurrency tokens inspired by internet memes or trends.

While Nigeria is currently tinkering with crypto regulation through the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the country’s first local stablecoin, cNGN, was officially launched on local exchanges this month.

cNGN, which touts itself as the first regulated stablecoin in Africa, is available for purchase on the two licensed digital asset exchanges in Nigeria: Quidax and Busha.

Also Read: $TRUMP: experts warn of risks over Trump’s meme coin frenzy.

$CAR performance since launch

According to cryptocurrency price tracker CoinGecko, $CAR price dropped by 64 per cent in the last 24 hours to trade at $0.1353 as of 01:56 p.m. WAT, having traded at $0.22 as of Monday morning.

Meanwhile, its trading volume also rose by 105 per cent to $780 million.

According to the FIB level, the price of Central African Republic Meme failed to hold above the 0.382 level ($0.6412) and the 0.5 level ($0.5178), which are critical support zones in an uptrend.

Fibonacci retracement levels (FIB) are prices, depicted as horizontal lines on a chart, that indicate where support or resistance could likely occur.

BNB is now hovering around the 0.786 level ($0.2188), which is a deep retracement, suggesting a potential test of lower supports or a possible reversal. The descending price movement suggests bearish pressure, and the asset has been unable to reclaim higher support zones.

This steep drop in the $CAR price comes after at least two deepfake AI detectors flagged the Central African Republic President’s video announcing their newly launched meme coin as suspicious.

Likewise, the initiative faced a minor setback when a dedicated X account created for updates and announcements about $CAR was suspended. Touadera assured the public that the government was working to restore the account as soon as possible.

$CAR’s emergence into meme coins builds on its earlier adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2022, a move that positioned the country as a pioneer in cryptocurrency adoption in Africa and second in the world after El Salvador.

While the Central African country faced a series of criticism as well as implementation challenges after Bitcoin adoption, the launch of $CAR reflects the government’s continued commitment to leveraging digital assets for economic development and global visibility.

Caution on meme coin

While meme coins often gain popularity due to their viral nature, they are typically highly volatile and lack practical utility.

After the launch of the $TRUMP, the meme coin sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market after its valuation skyrocketed by over 300 per cent with a market cap of $5.81 billion in less than 24 hours of its launch. 

Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, while reacting to the $Trump coin launch urges investors to exercise caution when dealing with meme coins. 

“This is a revival of the meme coin trend we saw in 2021 and 2022, where many young, inexperienced investors got burned by extreme volatility. Without doubt, investors will get burned by this frenzy too,” he explained. 

The deVere CEO highlights the speculative nature of meme coins, warning that their valuations can fluctuate wildly. He explained that while big money can be made by some, this type of investment is inherently high-risk and unpredictable. 

“Let’s be very clear: this is more gambling than investing. If you’re considering getting involved, you need to have a sound, diversified, long-term plan in place first.”

Nigel Green added that investors are mostly not buying because they think the coin has inherent value. But are buying because they hope others will drive the price higher, allowing them to sell at a profit and also to avoid the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

$Trump meme coin, after its surge, has experienced a sharp decline.