The Behind the Blockchain report for December 2025 has raised serious concerns about the Central African Republic’s (CAR) approach to cryptocurrency adoption, warning that weak oversight and opaque governance could expose the country to financial abuse and long-term economic risk.
The report, published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, examines CAR’s crypto initiatives since the country became the first African nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in 2022. While the government has promoted digital assets as a pathway to financial inclusion and economic independence, researchers argue that implementation has fallen short of those ambitions.
Central to the findings are CAR’s state-linked crypto projects, including Sango Coin and the more recent $CAR meme coin. Sango Coin was originally pitched as a utility token tied to tokenised land, citizenship incentives, and national development projects.
However, the report notes that investor participation remained far below expectations, raising questions about market confidence, transparency, and real-world demand.
The $CAR meme coin, launched in 2025 as part of a branding and visibility push, faced technical issues and irregular trading activity shortly after release. Analysts cited in the report suggest these disruptions may point to weak technical safeguards and poor operational planning, increasing the risk of manipulation and speculative abuse.
Beyond individual tokens, the report highlights broader structural problems. CAR continues to struggle with limited electricity access, low internet penetration, and weak financial infrastructure, conditions that make widespread crypto adoption difficult. In this context, researchers argue that state-driven crypto projects risk benefiting a small group of insiders rather than the general population.
The report also warns that limited anti-money-laundering controls, unclear custody arrangements, and a lack of independent oversight could allow crypto initiatives to be used for illicit financial activity. In extreme cases, the authors suggest that poorly governed tokenisation of state resources could undermine national sovereignty rather than strengthen it.
CAR officials have pushed back against the findings, describing the criticism as politically motivated and insisting that digital assets offer alternatives to traditional financial systems that have historically excluded the country. Still, industry observers say the report reflects a broader lesson for emerging markets: crypto adoption without strong institutions, transparency, and regulation carries significant risk.
Ultimately, the report does not argue against crypto itself. Instead, it underscores that blockchain technology, when tied directly to national strategy, must be supported by clear governance, public accountability, and realistic infrastructure planning, or it risks doing more harm than good.
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