Central African Republic's Crypto Experiment Faces Criticism for Opacity and Risks
The Central African Republic's (CAR) recent ventures into cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin legal tender status and launching local tokens such as the Sango Coin and CAR meme coin, have been widely criticized for poor design, lack of transparency, and potential for misuse, according to a report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
The Sango Coin was launched in mid-2022 and promoted with incentives aimed at foreign investors, such as offers of citizenship, e-residency, access to land, and rights to mining and forestry assets. However, the country's Constitutional Court later ruled that these benefits cannot be acquired through cryptocurrency. Although approximately 210 million Sango tokens were planned, only about 10% were sold, raising under €2 million. There is no clear public accounting of how these funds have been utilized.
Ambitious plans for a crypto city and a crypto island in the capital city Bangui failed to materialize. Although the Sango project announced efforts for a revamp, no further updates have been produced.
A law passed in July 2023 allowed for the tokenization of natural resources such as land, minerals, and timber. However, the legal framework lacks governance mechanisms, anti-money laundering safeguards, and clear legal definitions, posing risks to national sovereignty.
In February 2025, the CAR meme coin and the TRUMP coin were launched on the Solana blockchain. Both tokens saw around 80% of their supply controlled by entities linked to their creators, indicating high volatility and risks of market manipulation. On-chain analysis revealed that a single wallet controlled approximately 80% of the meme coin supply at launch. The CAR program tokenized 1,700 hectares of land under 99-year concessions, with sales in late 2025 valued at roughly $38,000, but public income details remain unclear.
The report highlights concerns that these initiatives have led to outsourcing state authority to opaque foreign networks and notes involvement of external security actors, including Russia's Wagner Group. There are also worries about potential money laundering, financing of extremism, and a lack of political will to address financial crimes.
Additionally, some individuals involved in promoting the CAR's cryptocurrency projects have previously been accused or convicted of fraud or resource trafficking in other contexts. The CAR government was contacted for comment.
