Central African Republic made Bitcoin legal tender

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I missed this story back in April of last year:
The Central African Republic's decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender came as a surprise to many, but the government argues that it will secure an independent financial future for the country, as the BBC's Damian Zane and Guy Bandolo report.
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... CAR became only the second country, following El Salvador, to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
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According to an estimate from 2020, nine out of 10 Central Africans do not have access to the internet - a prerequisite for using Bitcoin.

That, along with a patchy and unreliable electricity supply, led some to question whether the CAR was the right country to test the theory that cryptocurrencies were set to replace traditional forms of money.
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I'm guessing that CAR was hoping to attract foreign investment with the move.
 
The Central African Republic’s parliament has repealed legislation that gave bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies legal tender status. A new law amends an April 2022 statute that proved controversial among the CAR’s partners in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.

The CAR legislature adopted the amended law unanimously on March 23.
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In April 2022, the Central African Republic (CAR) adopted bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the second nation in history to do so. However, just a year later, the nation reversed its decision. But what are the reasons behind this failure in the CAR?

Challenging Economic Conditions

The CAR, one of the poorest countries in the world, faces numerous obstacles, such as political instability, inadequate infrastructure and food shortages.

In the 2018 Human Development Index, the CAR ranked second to last, with around 79% of its 4.7 million residents living in poverty. More than three million people in the country are reported to require humanitarian assistance while more than 85% of the population lacks electricity.

One of the significant barriers to the success of the Bitcoin project in the CAR was surely the country’s limited internet access. With only about 10% percent of the population having access to the internet, widespread adoption of digital currencies was highly unlikely.

While Bitcoin has been helping to bank the unbanked globally, the digital currency alone cannot solve all of a country's underlying infrastructure problems. And while Bitcoin can be resilient off the grid, the lack of basic amenities such as electricity and internet in CAR likely hindered the spread and usability of Bitcoin there.

Skepticism And International Concern

The introduction of bitcoin as legal tender in CAR was met with skepticism, partly due to the country’s close ties with Russia, raising suspicions about its potential plans to use cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions.

The United Nations also warned that developing countries like the CAR could face high risks and costs associated with cryptocurrencies.

And, ultimately, the economic benefits promised by the proponents of Bitcoin in the CAR never materialized. Ambitious projects, such as building a “Bitcoin city,” failed or never began, further dampening enthusiasm for the digital currency experiment.
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Curious news from CAR:
Despite the underwhelming response to its native digital currency, Sango Coin, the Central African Republic (CAR) is embarking on a new initiative to tokenize its abundant natural resources.

The Sango project team, which aims to usher in a "financial empowerment era through blockchain technology," revealed this action. The legislative body of the CAR has approved the tokenization of land and other natural resources, seeing this as a tactic to promote the country as an alluring commercial location within Africa.

In addition to streamlining online applications for business licenses and visas and facilitating the tokenization of resources, the legislation serves both domestic and foreign businesses. The Sango team claims that after receiving a license, companies may operate smoothly on the Sango platform and take advantage of the potential of the blockchain

Sango Coin was introduced last year with the intention of facilitating investment in the CAR through tokens backed by resources, utilizing a sidechain network supported by Bitcoin, but without forming a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Sango Coin, however, encountered difficulties since the CAR's Constitutional Court ruled that utilizing the token to acquire citizenship and land was unconstitutional.

Despite offering 200 million Sango Coins during its initial offering at $0.10 each, the government managed to sell fewer than 8 million coins to citizens during the ICO.

Following El Salvador's example, the CAR previously accepted Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the CFA Franc. Despite the fact that Bitcoin as legal tender was later reversed, President Faustin-Archange continues to be committed to the cryptocurrency industry, with Sango attributing the new tokenization law to his leadership.


Seems like an auditable blockchain would reduce opportunities for graft. Why would a purportedly corrupt shithole pursue this?
 
Looks like CAR set up a website for the Sango Coin:


That page says Sango Coin will be fractionally backed by Bitcoin. Also, they plan to build a crypto city and crypto island. I don't know how much of that page is being kept up to date as it doesn't appear to mention that the Bitcoin legal tender status has been revoked/repealed. It definitely sounds like a pretty ambitious project though.
 
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