CAR meme coin skyrockets but faces deepfake allegations

The Central African Republic made waves on 10 February by announcing the launch of its meme coin, CAR. The news came directly from President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s official X account, presenting the token as an experiment to unite people and boost national development. The meme coin, launched on the Solana-based Pump.fun platform, saw its value surge rapidly as traders rushed to invest in what was described as the first-ever national meme coin.

However, excitement soon turned to scepticism. AI detection tools flagged the president’s announcement video as potentially AI-generated, raising concerns about its authenticity. The project’s official X account was swiftly suspended, and further scrutiny revealed that its domain had been registered just days before the announcement using Namecheap, a budget-friendly provider. Shortly after, Namecheap took the website offline, citing it as an ‘abusive service.’

Despite these red flags, the CAR token initially reached a peak valuation of $527 million before dropping to $460 million. The controversy comes amid a rise in fraudulent memecoin launches, with recent cases involving hacked X accounts of high-profile figures. While there is still no clear confirmation on whether CAR is an official government-backed initiative or an elaborate scam, the crypto community remains on high alert.