The CAR token skyrocketed, but deepfake warnings and a sudden website takedown have raised questions about whether this is truly a government-backed initiative.
On Feb. 10, the Central African Republic made an unexpected move by announcing the launch of its own memecoin, CAR.
The announcement came directly from the official X account of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who described the project as an experiment aimed at uniting people, supporting national development, and putting CAR in the global spotlight.
“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 on Feb. 10.
He linked the initiative to the country’s previous pro-crypto stance, noting that he was the second world leader to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender.
The memecoin was launched on the Solana (SOL) based Pump.fun platform and initially saw an overwhelming market response. Within hours, its valuation surged as traders rushed to participate in what was seen as the first-ever national memecoin.
However, while the idea of a government-backed meme coin generated huge interest, skepticism quickly followed. Within hours, deepfake allegations, website suspensions, and questionable domain registrations began casting doubt on the project.
The announcement and immediate red flags
Skepticism over the memecoin emerged after AI detection tools analyzed the president’s announcement video.
One deepfake detection model, Seferbekov, found an 82% probability that the video was AI-generated, while another, Ensemble, also flagged it as suspicious. However, two other AI tools, Avatrify and Deepware’s checker, did not detect signs of manipulation.
The controversy deepened when the memecoin’s official X account, created to provide updates on the project, was suspended without explanation. Hours later, the president’s X account acknowledged the suspension and stated that they were working with X to restore it.
As scrutiny intensified, Yokai Ryujin, founder of UnrevealedXYZ, pointed out irregularities in how the CAR memecoin’s domain was registered.
He noted that the car.meme domain was registered on “Namecheap”, a budget-friendly domain provider, only three days before the announcement—a move he described as highly uncharacteristic for a government-backed initiative.
Shortly after, Namecheap suspended the website, confirming that it had been flagged as an “abusive service.”
Ryujin, who had warned about the project early on, posted on X that the takedown validated concerns. “I tried to warn you about this from the start, and I’ll keep fighting for you,” he wrote, urging the crypto community to remain cautious.
Market activity and a volatile debut
Despite the controversy, the CAR token surged upon launch, reaching a peak valuation of $527 million. However, as of this writing on Feb. 10, the token’s value has dropped to $460 million.
The timing of this controversy is crucial, as the crypto world has recently seen a spike in fraudulent meme coin launches.
Just a few days ago, scammers hijacked the X accounts of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter to promote fraudulent memecoins.
The similarities in tactics—unexpected high-profile endorsements, rapid website takedowns, and sudden social media suspensions—have led many to believe that CAR might be another high-profile deception.
However, at this stage, there is no clear confirmation on whether CAR is an official government-backed initiative or an elaborate scam. Crypto.news is actively investigating this developing story and will provide updates as more information emerges.
