Central African Republic (CAR) Sets Up 15-Member Committee to Bolster Crypto Regulation

4 months after the country’s constitutional court declared its grand crypto plans unconstitutional, the Central African Republic (CAR) is moving to introduce even more comprehensive legal framework.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera announced that 15 experts drawn from several ministries in his cabinet will be working on a new bill.

“15 experts from several ministries of my government make up the committee responsible for drafting a new, more comprehensive bill on the use of cryptocurrencies and offering CAR this unique opportunity for economic & technological development,” he said in a tweet.

The President also shared a statement accompanying his tweet indicating all the ministries involved in the process:

• Ministry of Mines and Geology
• Ministry of Waters, Forest, Hunting and Fishing
• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
• Ministry of Town Planning, Land Reform, Towns and Housing
• Ministry of Justice, Promotion of Human Rights and Good Governance

Central African Republic’s parliament already adopted a bill governing cryptocurrencies in April 2022, just as it made headlines for legalizing bitcoin.

However in August 2022, the country’s top court dismissed initiatives under the country’s crypto transformation project as unconstitutional. For instance, the court ruled that the purchase of citizenship e-residency and land using a cryptocurrency launched by the government was unconstitutional.

Under the Project Sango, the CAR government had said it was looking to decentralize the ownership of land property through its cryptocurrency, $SANGO, and the land plots could be obtained by locking a fixed collateral of SANGO Coins.

But the constitutional court said in its objections that nationality does not have a market value and that residents are required to be physically present in the country.

CAR, which is situated in central Africa, had also unveiled a platform for investors to stake top cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, and B2B, in addition to Sango Coin.

The Sango Coin, depending on the amount one holds, would enable an investor to get the following privileges:

• Citizenship in the Central African Republic can be obtained by locking a fixed collateral of SANGO Coins in the amount of $60,000 for a period of 5 years. After the period ends, the SANGO Coins are returned to the owner
• The e-residency in the Central African Republic can be obtained by locking a fixed collateral of SANGO Coins in the amount of $6,000 for a period of 3 years. After the period ends, the SANGO Coins are returned to the owner
• Tokenizing minerals

The ruling by the constitutional court back in August 2022 threatened to thwart these grand plans, even though officials expressed hope that they would present a framework that satisfy’s the court.