The Central African Republic (CAR) meme-coin sparked confusion and skepticism immediately after its launch. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s X account says it is a government initiative to “unite people” and “support national development.”
However, a number of phishing scams were found on its info pages. Since then, the project’s X account was suspended and subsequently relaunched, and its website went offline and has also since been relaunched.
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.
— Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) February 9, 2025
Contract: 7oBYdEhV4GkXC19ZfgAvXpJWp2Rn9pm1Bx2cVNxFpump
Scam Sniffer founder “Fun,” told Cointelegraph that the meme-coin’s Telegram group, linked on CoinGecko, contained phishing tools. Apparently, CoinGecko removed the links immediately after being informed.
Another sleuth, “Cos,” the founder of SlowMist, also identified malicious links redirecting users to fake CAPTCHA pages.
Adding to doubts, President Touadéra’s promotional video is suspected to be an AI deepfake. With phishing risks and unanswered questions, the legitimacy of the CAR meme-coin remains murky, even if the President continues to insist it's legitimate.
We are working with @X to get @CARMeme_News back as soon as possible.
— Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) February 9, 2025
Meanwhile, the token supply has been securely locked through @streamflow_fi, according to the distribution plan, emission groups, and release schedule detailed on our website.