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The leader of one of the poorest nations in Africa imitated Donald Trump with the launch of a so-called same, only to see his value crash immediately on the concerns that the project was a false elaborate.
Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic, said on X that the country’s same was “an experience designed to show how something as simple as a meme can unite people, support national development and put a Car on the world stage in one way “.
The same is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is entirely motivated by speculation and popularity between traders. They started as tokens related to Online viral moments Or popular caricatures but have since become a means for anyone to collect funds quickly and has been criticized to be similar to the “Pump and Dump” sharing regimes.
The value of $ because Memecoin has plunged 95% since its launch on Sunday, to exchange approximately $ 0.04 Tuesday. The token has a market capitalization of $ 37 million, according to the CoinmarketCap data supplier, down compared to a short peak of $ 350 million.
The launch was struck by unexpected hits while X suspended an account created by the government to promote news on the same, after users have published concerns about the legitimacy of the project. Deepfake detection tools have also reported Touadéra’s advertisement video as suspect.
But Albert Yaloké Mokpeme, a government spokesman, told Financial Times on Monday: “The president officially announced the launch of the same central Republic of Africa.”
Touadéra has also announced a new website and a new account, and the president continued to publish on the project from his verified account X.
Its launch comes Almost three years After the nation rich in minerals has become the second country after El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as a call for offers, attracting criticism from the IMF and a regional central bank. After the country’s higher court declared this unconstitutional decision, the car finally reversed its decision for months later.
The pivot of the same car seems to follow in Trump traces as a means of raising funds, with 35% of the funds collected by the token going to “development of the country”, according to its website.
Trump and his wife Melania both launched mecoins last month, inspiring a wave of scams and copy launches And attract generalized criticism from investors and cryptographic executives.
The brief adoption by Bitcoin by the car in 2022 saw little adoption among the citizens of one of the poorest countries in the world. The landlocked nation, whose estimated GDP per capita of $ 549 makes it poorer than Somalia, remains underdeveloped, while the use of mobile phones and other internet devices is not widespread, dissuading participation in Crypto-monnaies.
The former French colony of 5.7 million people was struck by violence for more than a decade, the Bangui government counting on the paramilitary forces of the Wagner group supported by Russia to thwart a rebellion attempt in 2020.
![The Russian officers of the Wagner group are seen around the Central African president Faustin-Archange Touadéra in Bangui in July 2023](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F4485a452-7114-426e-ba0d-92d34e78ac0e.jpg?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1)
Voters have since approved a new constitution which would allow Touadéra run for a third term in the elections this year.
Touadéra, a former math teacher with two doctorates, seems determined to make his country a paradise for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Despite his fall in value, in a video published on X on Monday, he described the same launch of “resounding success”.
He also praised “the thousands of people both in our country and in the world. . . Who has joined this movement “, adding:” We build in the long term! “”