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In brief A new GI-OTC report has warned that the Central African Republic’s experiment with cryptocurrency has been poorly designed, opaque and vulnerable to abuse. CAR’s Sango Coin collapsed after raising less than €2 million, while the newer CAR meme coin has generated only modest revenues amid extreme volatility, the report said. GI-OTC researchers said that laws enabling the tokenization of land and resources lack basic safeguards, creating avenues for money laundering and foreign capture. Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENE A new report from the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime has issued a warning about the Central African Republic’s experiment with cryptocurrency, concluding that initiatives have been poorly designed, opaque and vulnerable to abuse, while offering little tangible benefit to the population. “These initiatives, launched under President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, were presented by the government as tools for economic growth, modernization and national development,” said Global Initiative on its website. “However, the evidence documented in this report raises serious concerns about how cryptocurrency has been deployed, by whom, and to whose benefit.” The CAR’s crypto ventures Since 2022, Touadéra has championed a series of crypto ventures including the legalization of Bitcoin as legal tender, the launch of Sango Coin and, more recently, the CAR meme coin. The report argues that, rather than fostering inclusive development, the projects have largely catered to foreign investors and speculative actors, deepening risks to the country’s economic sovereignty. The government has repeatedly claimed that cryptocurrency would boost investment, modernize financial infrastructure and help rebuild one of the world’s poorest and most conflict-affected countries. But the report paints a far bleaker picture in which the program appears tailored far more to the interests of foreign investors than to domestic needs. Sango Coin, launched in mid-2022, was billed as a Bitcoin-backed national digital currency that would catalyze investment and fund infrastructure. Marketed aggressively abroad, it offered foreign investors incentives including citizenship, e-residency, land and access to mining and forestry assets in exchange for holding the token. Many of those incentives were later struck down by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that citizenship, residency and land could not be acquired using cryptocurrency. The project also faced opposition from regional banking regulators, the IMF and the World Bank. Despite the fanfare, Sango Coin failed to gain traction. Of a planned 210 million tokens, only about 10% were sold, raising less than €2 million. The report claimed there is no clear public accounting of how those funds were used. Plans for a crypto city and a crypto island in the capital Bangui never materialized. Sango Coin’s X account announced in April that the project would be revamped, promising “a complete transformation.” It has not posted anything further since. A request for comment from Decrypt sent to its email address bounced back. A new chapter is coming! The original Sango project, as it was first envisioned, will not continue in its previous form. After careful consideration strategic planning, we are preparing a new direction that honors the initial ambition, but adapts it to a stronger path forward pic.twitter.com/wI6K3nFe6x — Sango Project (@sangoproject) April 29, 2025 Despite Sango Coin’s failure, Touadéra’s government pressed ahead. In July 2023, parliament passed a law allowing the tokenization of natural resources, enabling land, minerals and timber to be represented by digital tokens on a blockchain. The report argues the law lacks basic governance, anti–money laundering safeguards and legal clarity, posing serious risks to national sovereignty. Political meme coins Those concerns intensified in February 2025 with the launch of the CAR meme coin, framed by Touadéra as an experiment to promote national development and global visibility. Nathalia Dukhan, director of the Central Africa Observatory (CEA-Obs) at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, told Decrypt that the TRUMP coin, which was launched a month prior, is strikingly similar in structure. “Both are built on the Solana blockchain, and in each case, a large share of tokens—around 80% for TRUMP—is controlled by entities closely linked to the creators. The same concentration applies to CAR, indicating a high potential for manipulation by its developers,” she said. “Both coins experienced rapid spikes and collapses within hours of launch, reflecting their nature as highly speculative financial instruments built largely on the notoriety of a political figure.” The rollout was chaotic, marked by a last-minute website registration, suspended social media accounts, concerns that promotional material was AI-generated and wild price swings. On-chain analysis cited in the report shows that a single wallet linked to the anonymous developer acquired nearly 80% of the token supply at launch, giving it near-total control over the market and enabling potential manipulation. The coin briefly surged to a market capitalization of more than $900 million before losing most of its value. The government later used CAR to tokenize land, offering 1,700 hectares under 99-year concessions payable in the meme coin. By late 2025, sales amounted to roughly $38,000, which was not clearly declared as public income or shown to benefit the state. Even digital land certificates promoted by the president appeared to be AI-generated, further undermining credibility. The report situates the crypto initiatives within a broader pattern in the CAR of outsourcing state authority to opaque foreign networks. Since coming to power, Touadéra has relied heavily on external security actors, particularly Russia’s Wagner Group, which has been accused by the UN of widespread human rights abuses in exchange for privileged access to natural resources. “At present, the legal framework and enforcement mechanisms are insufficient to prevent corruption, money laundering, or the financing of terrorism through cryptocurrency,” Dukhan said. amp;amp;lt;span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display:inline-block;width:0px;overflow:hidden;line-height:0" class="mce_SELRES_start"amp;amp;gt;amp;amp;lt;/spanamp;amp;gt; “Moreover, there is a clear lack of political will to tackle financial crimes. On the contrary, the CAR government has actively fostered opacity, seemingly to attract investors seeking to shield illicit activities.” Several figures involved in promoting the crypto projects, the report added, have been accused or convicted of fraud or resource trafficking elsewhere, reinforcing fears of state capture by criminal networks. The CAR government has been approached for comment.

In brief California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a new website calling attention to Donald Trump’s presidential pardons, including those of crypto figures Changpeng Zhao, Ross Ulbricht, and the “BitMEX Bros.” Newsom's move comes as Democrats raise concerns about Trump’s links to the crypto industry. Trump told Decrypt this week that he'll "look at" pardoning Keonne Rodriguez, developer of Bitcoin privacy project Samourai Wallet. Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENE California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a website tracking what he calls President Donald Trump's "criminal cronies,” a list that includes Trump himself alongside convicted drug lords, January 6 insurrectionists, and several prominent crypto figures who have received presidential pardons. The tracker, unveiled Tuesday, spotlights Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, and BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Gregory Dwyer, and Samuel Reed, among the recipients of Trump's pardons. CRIMINAL IN CHIEF: DONALD TRUMP 34 felony convictions. Cozying up to convicted sex traffickers. Cashing in on crypto grifts. Inviting foreign influence into American politics.This is the standard Trump sets. See more at: https://t.co/B05K1ZIqBW pic.twitter.com/cfDAEacmib — Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) December 16, 2025 "Governor Newsom is driving crime down—and Donald Trump is pardoning drug lords and driving criminals into government," Newsom's office said in a statement announcing the website, alongside new data showing violent crime declining across California's major cities. The crypto-heavy pardon list comes amid mounting Democratic concerns about Trump's crypto dealings and potential conflicts of interest, entangling U.S. governance with private crypto interests. Newsom supports "responsible crypto and blockchain innovation while prioritizing consumer protection, not fraud," according to his office, positioning California as a counterweight to what Democrats characterize as Trump's alleged corruption. The launch came the same week that Decrypt asked President Trump whether he would consider pardoning Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez. “I’ll look at it,” the president said, leaving open the possibility of further crypto-related pardons. CZ's "full and unconditional" pardon Changpeng Zhao’s "full and unconditional pardon” came after pleading guilty to money laundering charges for allowing illicit funds, including money flowing to “terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers,” through Binance's platform, said Newsom. Newsom’s site notes that Binance “was an important supporter of the Trump family’s own business,” World Liberty Financial, and mocks Trump’s claim that he doesn’t know Zhao, joking, “Maybe Sneaky Pete used the autopen while Trump slept?” Last week, World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin became part of Binance's core infrastructure, with Binance denying any connection between Zhao's pardon and the expanded integration of USD1, calling such suggestions "false and defamatory." Silk Road and BitMEX amp;amp;lt;span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display:inline-block;width:0px;overflow:hidden;line-height:0" class="mce_SELRES_start"amp;amp;gt;amp;amp;lt;/spanamp;amp;gt; Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, the now-shuttered dark web marketplace that facilitated over $214 million in illegal drug sales (often via Bitcoin), received a pardon for his 2015 conviction on narcotics and money-laundering conspiracy charges. The BitMEX co-founders all received pardons in March after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Trump also pardoned HDR Global Trading Limited, the corporation that owns the cryptocurrency exchange. Decrypt has contacted the White House, CZ and Arthur Hayes for additional comment. Democrats vs. Trump Newsom’s site highlights what it calls Trump’s “crypto corruption,” claiming that the president’s family has “raked in at least $800 million dollars in crypto” since the start of 2025. The site also alleges that Trump’s SEC suspended an investigation into Tron founder Justin Sun “just weeks after Sun invested $75 million into Trump’s crypto company World Liberty Financial,” as well as accusing the president of “cashing in” on his TRUMP meme coin by offering tours of the White House to investors. This isn’t the first time that Newsom has shone a spotlight on Trump’s crypto activities; in September, the California Governor said on the "Pivot" podcast he would release his own meme coin called "Trump Corruption Coin,” mocking the president's TRUMP meme coin. His website joins a widening chorus of Democratic criticism aimed at Trump’s connections with crypto projects. Senator Elizabeth Warren's letter this week to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi highlighted decentralized exchange PancakeSwap's role in facilitating trading of USD1, and its reported use by North Korean backers to launder stolen crypto funds. Meanwhile, House Democrats recently labeled the Trump White House “the world’s most corrupt crypto startup operation,” citing reports that the family earned more than $800 million in crypto ventures this year.

BlockBeats News, December 17th, according to The New York Times, as US President Trump publicly embraces cryptocurrency, his policy and personal stance are profoundly changing the structure of the US capital market, with a large number of new companies with cryptocurrency at their core quickly emerging, while also amplifying market risks. Trump has dubbed himself the "First Cryptocurrency President" and, since taking office, has ended the previous strong regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, pushed for pro-crypto legislation, publicly endorsed cryptocurrency investments multiple times, and even personally launched a meme coin called TRUMP. This series of actions has rapidly brought the relatively niche cryptocurrency industry into the mainstream financial system. Against this backdrop, more than 250 publicly traded companies this year have begun to incorporate cryptocurrency into their balance sheets, attracting investor attention by accumulating significant amounts of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Some companies even lack a mature core business, with their core "business model" being to hold cryptocurrency and bet on its price increase. Analysis points out that, unlike past cryptocurrency bull markets mainly limited to exchanges and retail investors, under the impetus of Trump's policies, cryptocurrency risk is now spreading to a broader set of investors through the stock market. Regulatory tightening exits, political endorsements, and the structural "cryptofication" of publicly traded companies are forcing investors to bear higher volatility and valuation risks.

$SOL $ASTER $ZEC I’ll be honest… I didn’t get here on my own. A️LY️S️S️A was the one guiding every step, and looking back now, I’m grateful I trusted her when I did. started with $3k under her direction and put it into BTC around $29,000. I held longer than I normally would’ve, and when it climbed toward $70,000, we sold and turned it into $7,200. That was the first time in a long while that something actually went right for me. She had me roll everything into the TRUMP token at $1.80 — and honestly, I was nervous. But I followed the plan. When it pushed up to $12, we exited and walked away with $48k. From $3k to $48k… but the real shift wasn’t the money. It was the feeling of having someone who actually knew what they were doing… Someone who helped me get back on my feet, emotionally and financially ❤️‍🩹