CAR: The Controversial Crypto Project from Central Africa

1. The Unexpected Origins of Memecoin CAR in the Crypto World

On February 10, 2025, the global crypto community was stunned by the announcement that Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic, had launched a memecoin called CAR. Introduced as a national “experiment,” the project aimed to foster unity and raise financial awareness among citizens. However, its sudden debut and lack of transparency quickly made CAR a hot topic of controversy in the crypto investment world.

CAR was issued on the Solana blockchain with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. The token allocation was notable: 35% for national development, 25% for the founder and company, and only 9.3% for public distribution. Interestingly, CAR also promised allocations for charitable and community-driven initiatives—something rarely seen in typical memecoin projects within the crypto space.

2. The Project’s Authenticity Raises Doubts Across the Crypto Community

Shortly after its launch, CAR’s market capitalization skyrocketed to over $500 million in just two hours. However, experts quickly flagged numerous red flags. The announcement video was suspected to be a deepfake, with AI analysis tools estimating an 82% likelihood of manipulation. This led to growing speculation that President Touadéra’s X (Twitter) account may have been compromised.

In addition, the project’s website domain, car.meme, had only been registered three days before the public announcement. This fueled further skepticism about whether this was a genuine national initiative or simply a stunt exploiting state branding to take advantage of the heating crypto market.

3. Rapid Collapse and Hard Lessons for Crypto Investors

After peaking at nearly $900 million in market cap, the CAR token plummeted by 87% within 11 hours, dropping to around $17 million. On-chain data also revealed that the 20.7% of tokens reserved for liquidity had not yet been added to any actual liquidity pools. This raised alarms about a potential rug pull—a common scam tactic in the crypto world.

For investors, the CAR incident serves as a stark warning: not every project with a “national” label is a safe bet. In the volatile realm of crypto, conducting thorough research, verifying transparency, and monitoring on-chain behavior are critical steps. This is especially true for memecoins, which are often driven by speculation and highly unpredictable price swings.