Bitcoin Legal Tender in Central African Republic

[fillippone]

Another Country Adopted Bitcoin as a Legal Tender.

Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as legal currency

The Central African Republic has adopted bitcoin as legal tender, the president's office said Wednesday, becoming the second country in the world to do so behind El Salvador.

Lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill that made bitcoin legal tender alongside the CFA franc and legalised the use of cryptocurrencies, and President Faustin Archange Touadera signed the measure into law, his chief of staff Obed Namsio said in a statement.

The CAR "is the first country in Africa to adopt bitcoin as legal tender," Namsio said.

"This move places the Central African Republic on the map of the world's boldest and most visionary countries," he declared.

This is the official document:




Translation for your convenience:

PRESIDENCE OF THE REPUBLIC
DIRECTION OF CABINET NP:009/PR/DIRCAB/22.

CENTRAFRICAN REPUBLIC
DIGNITY-UNITY-WORK


PRESS RELEASE

The President of the Republic, Head of State, Professor Faustin Archange TOUADERA took note with satisfaction and enthusiasm of the unanimous decision of the National Assembly relating to the bill which establishes the legal framework which governs crypto-currencies and establishes Bitcoin as the official currency in the Central African Republic. The adoption of Bitcoin as an official currency represents a decisive step in opening up new opportunities for our country.

Through this historic decision, the economic recovery and peacebuilding plan is entering a new phase and the Executive is demonstrating consistency in the application of the agenda which provides for the achievement of strong and inclusive growth for the benefits of development and economic performance, which ultimately will generate prosperity for our fellow citizens.

The President of the Republic, Head of State will support all the necessary efforts, in compliance with the law, in order to complete this process which places the Central African Republic on the map of the most courageous and visionary countries in the world, to everything that means and implies the acceptance of cryptocurrencies as means of payment. The Central African Republic is not only the first country in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as a benchmark currency but also the first country in the world to unanimously adopt the bill that governs cryptocurrency. We are setting out on a new path that will mark a new stage for our country while being aware of the difficulties that we will have to face to pursue our mission.

In a progressive, forward-looking vision, our Nation must be able to pursue its destiny and join the ranks of those who not only fully understand the importance of Blockchain technology but also hasten to legislate.

Our priority is to think about how the lives of our fellow citizens will change and about the means necessary to create a stable and prosperous economy. We must do everything in our power for the common good, bearing in mind the heritage that we have a duty to leave to future generations.

Done in Bangui, April 26, 2022

The Minister of State, Director of the Office of the President
OBED Namsio

Here Following the Complete Text of the Law:


Here you can find the law in Google Format, for readability and ease of use.

	ENGLISH	FRENCH

The news is not completely unexpected though, as Bitcoin Magazine published an article on the setting up of the legislation allowing this decision:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC LAUNCHES LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC USE OF BITCOIN

• The Central African Republic is developing a legal framework enabling the economic use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
• The Finance Minister explained they will not be replicating El Salvadoran legislation that made bitcoin legal tender.
• Infrastructure development will be required to achieve wide-spread economic use of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Magazine produced another article on the matter:

THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC ADOPTS BITCOIN AS LEGAL TENDER

The Central African Republic (CAR) has adopted bitcoin as legal tender, the president’s office said on Wednesday.

The move makes the African country the second nation in the world to officially adopt BTC as a lawful currency, enabling its citizens to use it in regular commerce as well as to pay taxes.

CAR lawmakers unanimously approved a bill legalizing the use of cryptocurrencies in the country and making bitcoin and the CFA franc legal tender. President Faustin Archange Touadera then signed the measure into law, his chief of staff Obed Namsio said in a statement.

We have to remember that The Central African Republic is in a monetary union together with other Sub- Saharian States, adopting the African Financial Community (CFA) franc.

This peg has been actively used by the French authorities to actively rule that region.
You can read more here:
True Sovereignty? The CFA Franc and French Influence in West and Central Africa
Fabric of Reform Cover The Fabric of Reform

Plenty of opportunities here:



CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Cheatsheet:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC on Wikipedia
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC on CIA World Factbook

[NeuroticFish]

This is wonderful news, unless I am missing something: the first country having its own currency (CFA) and still adopting Bitcoin.
...Shame that it's a country with still ongoing civil war. It will give ammo to various naysayers.

[aysg76]

That's great to see another country taking one step ahead by legalising bitcoin in the country.There were some past rumours that Sub-Saharan African country will accept it or not but they have sorted out it soon by framing the legal framework for it and passing the bill and now are officially second country after El Salvador where bitcoin is legal tender.

This statement is quite attacking for those developed nations who think that these third world countries cannot compete with them and they can dominate them with fiat suppression but they are taking big and early moves for the country:

There’s a common narrative that sub-Saharan African countries are often one step behind when it comes to adapting to new technology,” Finance Minister Herve Ndoba said last week, as quoted in Bloomberg. “This time, we can actually say that our country is one step ahead.”

This move places the Central African Republic on the map of the world's boldest and most visionary countries," he declared.

The CAR is also having the same condition where the country is dominated by the US dollar for trade off and buying/selling of stuff so you see they find an opportunity to free from the chains of USD through this bitcoin and providing people with decentralised control of their funds and ownership of funds to them.

But you see the IMF will again intervene in this matter and give out some lame reasons and stop their help if they don't take this back as we have already seen this drama because they can't lend any loans to these country incurring heavy debt on them and keeping them under their hand like puppets move.Like in El Salvador case they said this :

The introduction was heavily criticised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It warned of "large risks associated with the use of bitcoin on financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection" and with issuing bitcoin-backed bonds.

But you could also see the economic conditions of the country as around 618 CFA franc are equal to 1$ which is huge difference and they will never be able to grow under such circumstances but bitcoin could give them a little boost ending this domination.

There is also regulatory framework for the working of crypto assets in African Republic and you can check it out here

For visibility here is legislation in the text :

 

But you see the population is around 4.83 million and only 11% of them access to the internet and this must be challenging for the government to implement bitcoin system as even for LN channels you will need to have it and will sew forward how the people react to this decision as there were many protest in the El Salvador against this decision also.But you see there is always second option of fiat with you but bitcoin is best if you understand it.

Most of the population is living in poverty cricis and per capita income is way too low and the main problem is accessible internet and devices for bitcoin usage so you see it's challenging and hard situation there.But the government have taken bold step and will see forward how things went here.

[TheBeardedBaby]

Total countries in the World: 195

Countries accepting bitcoin as legal tender in 2022:
1. El Salvador.
2. Central African Republic

Countries accepting bitcoin as legal tender in 2021:
1. El Salvador.

Countries accepting bitcoin as legal tender in 2020:
-

... I think we go up parabolic soon

[Doan9269]

The Central African Republic has adopted bitcoin as legal tender, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/central-african-republic-adopts-bitcoin-as-legal-currency/ar-AAWEdfe

Not untill i come across this official statement stating it adoption as a legal tender do i believe, well i congratulate the country toward this drastic decision amidst it current economic and political challenges and i want to believe that this will create a remarkable inference to to the country and Africa at large, but honestly this comes as a surprise because i never expected such from them and why is because its one of the salient countries in Africa when it comes to bitcoin and cryptocurrency at large and country like Nigeria having the highest adoption of users in Africa doesn't make a move in this manner, i see Central African Republic doing well and will for once regret their decision.

[stompix]

So it is finally acknowledged to be legal tender and not legalized currency or a means of payment, the news over the last few days has been all over the place.

This is wonderful news, unless I am missing something: the first country having its own currency (CFA) and still adopting Bitcoin.

Not so much their "own" currency more like the euro model but on top of that with a pegged currency, I don't know how this could have even worked, but looking at the economy of those countries, yeah it didn't.

For visibility here is legislation in the text :

 

Excuse my french but doesn't that thing make all cryptocurrencies legal tender? There is no bitcoin there it's just cryptocurrency as far as I'm reading.

The CAR is also having the same condition where the country is dominated by the US dollar for trade off and buying/selling of stuff so you see they find an opportunity to free from the chains of USD through this bitcoin and providing people with decentralised control of their funds and ownership of funds to them.

They have their currency pegged to the Euro, their imports come from Europe mainly, and their exports to China and the EU, why would they even consider using the $ and not the Euro for example?

[Z-tight]

Central African Republic is not the biggest country in the world, but the news is still a big one. It did not take too long from when El Salvador took a similar step for the number to add up again, and now another country is welcoming Bitcoin to be a legal tender, now i would be curious to see how the citizens of this country responds to this official statement. I am sure Anti-Bitcoin governments would blast their decision like they did in El Salvador's case, only because they do not want the growth of Bitcoin to continue, though it would not change anything, that i am sure of. This are baby steps in terms of the kind of countries that are making Bitcoin a legal tender, but a mass adoption has to start from somewhere, and all of these could well be the spark leading up to Bitcoin mass adoption.

So it is finally acknowledged to be legal tender and not legalized currency or a means of payment, the news over the last few days has been all over the place.

Is a legal tender not a 'legalized currency' and medium of payment.

[hugeblack]

I tried to gather more information to find out why a country like the Central African Republic adopted Bitcoin as a Legal Tender, but I did not find many logical reasons for that, for example lets start with the status of the Internet:

There are about 2.31 million mobile connections, a percentage that increased by (+11%) between January 2019 and January 2020.
The percentage of Internet use represents about 14% in January 2020, which is not a very high percentage for Bitcoin growth.

You can read more about this and the resources here ---> https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-central-african-republic


Let's move on to the political situation: It seems that the country is being run under a military rule by President Faustin-Archange Touadera^[1]. The country does not seem politically stable.

Source --> https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Central-African-Republic/wb_political_stability/

I also see some articles about the Russian Wagner Group^[2], which may be the real reason for the adoption of Bitcoin is to facilitate international trade between this country and some other groups.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faustin-Archange_Touad%C3%A9ra
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59699350

[Disruptivas]

It's so amazing! It's been really beautiful to watch this adoption and all the amazing news happen ''in the bear market''. And of all the reasons that make me extremely happy to read this news, I think the biggest one is that adoption starts with ''renegade countries''. The fact that it is the countries far from the TOP developed/GDP is something incredible that provides a unique opportunity for the insurgency. And in the end, it's the same story of Bitcoin adoption by populations of countries without big opportunities.

[DdmrDdmr]

There are now a few thread around on the matter in different boards, as one would expect, and one of the posts has a link to this thread which I’ve just followed.

I’m still not convinced of the authenticity of neither of the documents seen here so far. They are indeed being echoed by the media, but trying to find an official source to either is a chimera, and I kind of end-up on someone’s Twitter as a source behind articles here and there, which is not what we’d like to see.
 
This is what I was looking into:

There is still a lot of confusion on this matter, with recent headlines still stating that bitcoin has indeed become legal tender in the country. There are some alleged documents around that back this, although, as far as I’ve been able to see, there is still doubt on their authenticity:

1) Alleged official press release:
https://twitter.com/AnitaPosch/status/1519209997212819456

The tweet does not state where the poster got the document from. It also cast’s a doubt as to whether it is in effect, or planned to be in effect.

Google lens translation: https://twitter.com/bluefish_79/status/1519245407854989314
(likely not too precise -> i.e. "establishes bitcoin as the official currency" should, in any case be "establishes bitcoin as an official currency")

2) Alleged crypto law for the CAR:
https://twitter.com/FxEnablers/status/1519270144555507713

Note that it seems incomplete (despite the poster labelling it as complete), and looks like a regulation of crypto in any case, and not specific to bitcoin.

Both the above are being echoed by the media (and me now), although I’m substantially sceptical about the authenticity of either until I see it in an official media (as opposed to someone’s sourceless tweet).


Of course, having abandoned the usage of some of the official communication channels does not help whatsoever (unless they’ve changed them and Google still show old ones here and there):
https://twitter.com/GouvCF
http://gouv.cf/

The latter seems to be one of the issues here in relation to finding a reliable source. If the above are indeed the official government channels (Google and Wikipedia thought so), then they are essentially abandoned, so it gets even harder to verify the source of the information ...

[kryptqnick]

Wow, I must say I did not expect this move. There've been multiple countries discussed from time to time as potential adopters, but Central African Republic wasn't the one I've seen among them. It's a country with a solid multi-million population, and it's not an adoption in a special economic zone or by a particular region, which is very cool. And a unanimous decision by the lawmakers is a nice addition because it means crypto adoption is hardly debatable there because there's consensus on the matter. Perhaps this will motivate other countries in the region?

[Ucy]

Good development. I hope the country only allow true cryptocurrencies, or just simply stick to Bitcoin alone for now until other cryptocurrencies become truely decentralized and safe. Not a good idea to legalize scams and abominations

[fillippone]

There are now a few thread around on the matter in different boards, as one would expect, and one of the posts has a link to this thread which I’ve just followed.

I’m still not convinced of the authenticity of neither of the documents seen here so far. They are indeed being echoed by the media, but trying to find an official source to either is a chimera, and I kind of end-up on someone’s Twitter as a source behind articles here and there, which is not what we’d like to see.
 
This is what I was looking into:

There is still a lot of confusion on this matter, with recent headlines still stating that bitcoin has indeed become legal tender in the country. There are some alleged documents around that back this, although, as far as I’ve been able to see, there is still doubt on their authenticity:

1) Alleged official press release:
https://twitter.com/AnitaPosch/status/1519209997212819456

The tweet does not state where the poster got the document from. It also cast’s a doubt as to whether it is in effect, or planned to be in effect.

Google lens translation: https://twitter.com/bluefish_79/status/1519245407854989314
(likely not too precise -> i.e. "establishes bitcoin as the official currency" should, in any case be "establishes bitcoin as an official currency")

2) Alleged crypto law for the CAR:
https://twitter.com/FxEnablers/status/1519270144555507713

Note that it seems incomplete (despite the poster labelling it as complete), and looks like a regulation of crypto in any case, and not specific to bitcoin.

Both the above are being echoed by the media (and me now), although I’m substantially sceptical about the authenticity of either until I see it in an official media (as opposed to someone’s sourceless tweet).


Of course, having abandoned the usage of some of the official communication channels does not help whatsoever (unless they’ve changed them and Google still show old ones here and there):
https://twitter.com/GouvCF
http://gouv.cf/

The latter seems to be one of the issues here in relation to finding a reliable source. If the above are indeed the official government channels (Google and Wikipedia thought so), then they are essentially abandoned, so it gets even harder to verify the source of the information ...

I was just starting to dig into this, as the Bitcoin Magazine article mentioned the document appeared on the President Touadera Facebook account.
Well, I went and checked.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075608221248
Maybe there are more accounts, but I didn't find anything on this one and the other I could find. And all look pretty different from what you would expect from a President of any Republic.

I found this on Twitter, but of course, I couldn't assess it's authenticity:


But Following the Previous post I found a reference for the website:

https://www.facebook.com/PresidenceCentrafriqueOfficiel/posts/305888361698320

On this Page I found the Bitcoin Lex I found in the Op.
But the Link on the official Government site links to another  Facebook Profile:
https://www.facebook.com/gouv.cf/

This Facebook is still updated, and we are updated on the fact that the First Minister is just back from an IMF visit to Washington.

[yhiaali3]

Wow, this decision is really bold and surprising for the African Republic to take this bold step to adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency in this country. This is the second country in the world to take this bold step. I expect more countries to join in adopting Bitcoin as a legal currency soon, The striking thing about this is that countries that adopt bitcoin as a legal currency have economic problems, and this gives a good impression that these countries find solutions to their economic problems in adopting bitcoin.

[CaVO32]

Wow, this decision is really bold and surprising for the African Republic to take this bold step to adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency in this country. This is the second country in the world to take this bold step. I expect more countries to join in adopting Bitcoin as a legal currency soon, The striking thing about this is that countries that adopt bitcoin as a legal currency have economic problems, and this gives a good impression that these countries find solutions to their economic problems in adopting bitcoin.

Maybe, they are seeing positive impact on the economy of El Salvador or they are also testing the integration of bitcoin in their financial system. Anyway, they can always go back to where it was if they see no improvement or progress in their system. But if they will see some advancements, I guess more countries will adopt this initiative. The more of them, more demand in the market and so better for the price of bitcoin.

[fillippone]

I added a few links toward a couple of good essays about the CFA franc.

This monetary union has seen a lot of criticism for the absolute imbalance of powers toward France, who actually used this economic zone as a weapon to increase their influence on Africa.

True Sovereignty? The CFA Franc and French Influence in West and Central Africa
Fabric of Reform Cover The Fabric of Reform

[Zlantann]

The Central African Republic becomes the first country in Africa to adopt bitcoin as its legal tender alongside its national currency, the CFA franc. Although CAR is one of the poorest countries in the world but they see bitcoin as a new opportunity to improve the economy of their nation. It is indeed a bold and visionary move because CAR took this decision without consulting the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the regional bank that controls the currency of 6 Central African countries. Two of the country’s former prime ministers had expressed serious concern about the adoption of bitcoin as a legal tender without permission from BEAC. The government of CAR understands that most African banks are under Neo-colonialism and are manipulated by imperial powers led by the World Bank and IMF, hence, they decided to take this bold step without their approval. The spokesman of the BEAC confirmed that they heard of the new law on cryptocurrency in Central African Republic at the same time as the public. If CAR government had informed them, BEAC and IMF would have done everything possible to stop them.

This is a bold first step and I am sure that other obstacles such as low internet users, unstable power supply and high rate of illiteracy that might affect the implementation of this policy would be gradually defeated. I am also sure that other African countries would be able to see the economic independence and freedom that is inherent in the adoption of bitcoin and free themselves from the financial shackles and chains of their colonial masters.


https://punchng.com/central-african-republic-adopts-bitcoin-as-legal-currency/
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/4/27/bitcoin-is-now-official-currency-in-central-african-republic

[el kaka22]

Wow, Jesus Christ, this looks like a real thing and not a fake news. I read the title of the topic and assumed it was a fake one but turns out it is real. I didn't believe it at first because I believed that it would be known way way before, like I would have heard about it on news like how it happened with El Salvador.

I think they attacked El Salvador at first because of the legal tender deal, and it backfired on them so much that they do not even made this into news everywhere like that one so that it wouldn't get heard. This legal tender situation is becoming bigger, if we get even just one decent sized nation to do this, it is going to change the world.

[nullama]

The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed

[cabron]

There were news about this but were not spread widely that's why some were just thinking its just a rumor. But its confirmed already. Whats next to this action, are they also going to  airdrop BTC to wallets?

The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed

Its a big country in terms of its land resources, the population is smaller than El Salvador but I think because they are located in the center, they have the trade routes in every direction. They would have to use their resources again, they are rich with it like the minerals including crude oil which other countries doesn't have.