The Central African Republic now accepts Bitcoin as legal tender

On April 27, the president of the Central African Republic (CAR) Faustin-Archange Touadéra signed the bill that regulates cryptocurrencies and acknowledges Bitcoin as legal tender in the country alongside franc.

Chief of Staff Obed Namsio spoke with Reuters in the same day of the announcement and said that the bill will ‘improve the conditions of Central African Citizens’ as it is ‘a decisive step toward opening up new opportunities for [the] country’. 

The crypto bill was introduced by Justin Gourna Zacko, CAR’s minister for Digital Economy, Post and Telecommunications last April 21 and only initially included legalising the use of cryptocurrencies which then received unanimous approval from lawmakers. It was only reported later that Bitcoin will also become a legal tender in the country.

According to reports made by Reuters, the CAR is one of the countries in the world that is the richest in terms of gold reserves and natural resources. However, the country is still being plagued by other problems such as rebel violence and struggles in terms of economic development. 

The adoption of BTC as legal tender is considered to be a strategic move to combat said issues and open opportunities in the long run. However, reports made by news outlets like CoinTelegraph have said that it is not clear how adopting BTC as legal tender will help alleviate the issues that the country is currently facing. 

On the other hand, reports made by CNBC published last April 28 have attested that regardless of CAR’s latest developments, the use of Bitcoin as legal tender will further promote the adoption of cryptocurrency and was even met with positive reviews by the crypto community. 

It is also not the first time that countries in the African continent have made major steps when it comes to crypto adoption and regulation. Examples would be Tanzania’s announcement to work on a presidential directive with regards to digital currencies and Nigeria launching its own digital asset, the eNaira token.  

On the other hand, this latest decision made by the CAR has made history, being the first country in the African continent to accept Bitcoin as legal tender and only the second to do so in history, next to El Salvador. 

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