Central African Republic recognizes bitcoin as official means of payment

The Central African Republic has declared bitcoin its official currency, the president’s office confirms. The CAR is the second country in the world to do this. El Salvador did the same in 2021.

A bill regulating the use of cryptocurrency was passed unanimously by the parliament of the Central African Republic, writes among others Reuters news agency. The law should “improve the conditions of Central African citizens,” a spokesman for the president told Reuters. The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite large reserves of diamonds, gold and uranium.

Critics argue that the bill undermines the existing currency in the Central African Republic. The CAR is one of the countries that uses the CFA franc, a currency backed by France and regulated by the BEAC, the Bank of Central African States. Two former prime ministers of the country signed a letter last week expressing concerns about the adoption of bitcoin as unaccompanied legal tender by the BEAC.

The bank informed Reuters that it had not previously been aware of the law. “The BEAC learned at the same time as the public of the enactment of a new cryptocurrency law in the Central African Republic,” a spokesperson told the news agency.

The Central African Republic is not the first country to recognize bitcoin as legal tender. El Salvador did the same last year. The Central American country wanted to get the economy going with that step and officially started using bitcoin in September.