The official X(Twitter) account of the Central African Republic’s (CAR) President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, announced the launch of a new memecoin, $CAR, as an experiment to explore its potential for national development.
Is the Memecoin Real?
The post, shared on Sunday, claimed that the token would help unite people, support economic growth, and bring global attention to the country. However, questions quickly arose about the legitimacy of the announcement.
At least two AI deepfake detection tools flagged the President’s video statement as suspicious, fueling concerns over the authenticity of the launch.
A Memecoin That Reached Millions in Hours
The memecoin was launched on February 9 through Pump.fun, a Solana-based launchpad for memecoins. Within hours, the token’s value surged to a peak market capitalization of $530 million, with its price climbing to $0.3393—an astonishing gain of over 342,000% in just 24 hours.
This rapid rise caught the attention of the crypto community, with many questioning how a national cryptocurrency project could be launched in such an unconventional way.
The official website of the CAR memecoin includes a video statement, allegedly from President Touadéra, as well as a tokenomics page detailing the distribution of the token’s total supply. However, scrutiny of these details led to further suspicions.
Suspended Social Media and Questionable Domain Registration
Doubts intensified when the official X account for the CAR memecoin was suddenly suspended without any explanation. Shortly afterwards, the President’s X account acknowledged the suspension, stating that the government was working with the platform to restore access.
The lack of clarity only added to speculation about whether the project was truly backed by the Central African Republic or if it was an elaborate hoax.
Adding to the controversy, Yokai Ryujin, founder of UnrevealedXYZ, discovered that the domain name for the CAR memecoin, “car.meme”, was registered on Namecheap—a budget-friendly domain registrar—just three days before the token’s launch.
He pointed out that such a move was highly unusual for a government-backed initiative, as official state projects typically use secure, government-affiliated domains.
Shortly after these concerns were raised, Namecheap suspended the website, stating that it had been flagged as an “abusive service.” Despite this, the website remained online at the time of publication, leaving many in the crypto community questioning the legitimacy of the entire operation.
Unusual Timing and Language Raise More Red Flags
Further scepticism emerged due to the timing and language of the announcement. The President’s post on X was shared at midnight local time in the Central African Republic, a highly unusual hour for an official government statement.
Additionally, the announcement was written only in English, despite French being the official language of the country. These inconsistencies led crypto enthusiasts, including the pseudonymous user Crypto Dreamer, to question whether the post was genuinely from the President or if his account had been compromised.
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Token Distribution Raises More Questions
Despite the controversy, blockchain data provides some insight into the token’s distribution. According to Solscan and DexScreener data, 33.31% of the total supply is held in a single wallet, while another 25% is stored in a separate wallet.
Two other wallets contain 9.81% and 8.39% of the supply, respectively. One of these wallets may represent the portion supposedly set aside for charitable causes, as mentioned in the project’s tokenomics.
Government-Backed or a Well-Planned Scam?
As doubts continue to mount, the crypto community remains divided over whether the CAR memecoin is a legitimate government-backed initiative or a well-executed scam. The deepfake concerns, sudden social media suspensions, questionable domain registration, and language inconsistencies all point to potential foul play.
If the Central African Republic truly launched this memecoin, it would mark a unique approach to integrating cryptocurrency into a national economy. However, the unanswered questions and growing scepticism suggest that further investigation is needed before anyone can be sure of the project’s true origins.
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