The launch of the Central African Republic’s (CAR) new memecoin, $CAR, has quickly sparked suspicion, fueled by deepfake allegations, website suspensions, and questions about its authenticity as a government-backed initiative.
On February 10, 2025, the Central African Republic announced the launch of $CAR, a memecoin touted as a national project aimed at uniting people, promoting development, and boosting the country’s global presence. The announcement came from the official X account of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who highlighted the project’s connection to the country’s earlier adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.
“Today, we are launching $CAR—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,” Touadéra’s official X account posted.
The coin was launched on the Solana-based Pump.fun platform and received an overwhelming market response, with its valuation soaring as traders rushed to invest in what was being hailed as the first-ever national memecoin. However, the enthusiasm was quickly dampened by multiple red flags.
Deepfake allegations emerged shortly after the announcement, with AI detection tools raising doubts about the authenticity of the video shared by the president. One model, Seferbekov, flagged the video as having an 82% probability of being AI-generated, while another tool, Ensemble, also identified it as suspicious. On the other hand, some models did not find signs of manipulation, adding to the confusion.
Further complications arose when the $CAR token’s official X account was suspended without explanation. The president’s account later confirmed the suspension, stating they were working to restore the account.
In addition to the deepfake concerns, questions about the legitimacy of the memecoin grew when Yokai Ryujin, founder of UnrevealedXYZ, noted that the memecoin’s domain—car.meme—was registered only three days before the announcement through Namecheap, a budget domain provider. This raised suspicions about the project’s authenticity, as such actions were considered uncharacteristic of a government-backed initiative. Shortly after, Namecheap suspended the website, citing it as an “abusive service.”
Despite the mounting controversy, the $CAR token surged to a peak valuation of $527 million. However, as of February 10, the value had dropped to $460 million. The timing of the memecoin’s launch, amid recent fraudulent meme coin schemes, has led many to speculate that this may be another scam. Just days prior, fraudulent memecoins had been promoted through hacked social media accounts, including those of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter.
At present, there is no clear confirmation regarding whether the $CAR memecoin is an official government-backed initiative or a sophisticated scam. Investigations are ongoing, and updates will follow as new information becomes available.
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