Study warns Central African Republic's unclear digital currency programs could allow foreign criminals to seize state property ahead of December 28 election

A new study released Wednesday warns that the Central African Republic’s digital currency programs are so unclear in their operations that they could allow criminal groups from other countries to take control of government property. The research came from a Switzerland-based network of about 600 specialists who track crime that crosses borders.

The warning comes as the nation prepares for voting on December 28, when President Faustin-Archange Touadéra will attempt to secure a third term in office. CAR has gone through many military takeovers, uprisings, and violence over the past several decades.

Since becoming president in 2016, Touadéra has strongly supported digital currencies. Three years ago, CAR made history by becoming the first nation in Africa and only the second worldwide to make bitcoin an official form of money.

The president has told people that using digital money will help citizens live better lives by bringing in funds from new sources to build roads, buildings, and other needs. Political watchers think he will most likely win next week’s vote.

Government leaders in Bangui refused to respond to the study from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, known as GI-TOC. However, one high-ranking official who wouldn’t give their name said the report was trying to make the government look bad.

The GI-TOC study said these programs work in ways that help a small group of people on the inside and criminal groups from different countries who want to clean dirty money.

“The CAR regime is effectively trading away the country’s sovereignty at the expense of the wider population,” the report stated. One official, speaking without giving their name, pushed back by saying these programs offer options beyond banks and their growing list of rules.

The study looked closely at two programs that it says don’t operate openly and lack protection against money laundering.

Sango Coin collapses with missing investor money

The first program, called the Sango Coin project, was supposed to turn Bangui into a modern city and fix national roads and buildings. Plans included giving citizenship, online residency, and land to people who invested money.

But the Constitutional Court stopped these offerings in August 2022, shortly after the program started. The project failed badly, selling just 10% of its goal of 210 million tokens in one year, worth under 2 million euros, according to GI-TOC.

The Sango Project wrote on X in April  that it wouldn’t keep going as before and a “new direction” was coming, but gave no details.

What happened to the money people put in remains unknown, the study said.

$CAR coin linked to opaque land sales

The second program was launched in February, called $CAR, a meme coin designed to get attention worldwide and help the country grow. These coins are known for wild price changes and often use popular brands or internet fads.

The launch hit problems right away when its internet address was shut down hours after starting. Since then, $CAR has been used to purchase digital land, but nobody knows if those sales added any money to the national budget, GI-TOC reported.

The study warned that government plans to expand the program to mining rights for diamonds, gold, and oil, with almost no checks on who buyers are or safeguards against money cleaning, could sell off natural resources to international criminals.

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