Central African Republic

The Central African Republic, which adopted bitcoin as legal tender in April, said on Monday it had delayed listing its national cryptocurrency token, citing "current market conditions" and "marketing reasons," Reuters reported. A plan to list the Sango Coin on as-yet unspecified crypto exchanges has been shelved until the first quarter, according to a statement posted in the coin's official Telegram channel. Also delayed is a "release" that would allow coin holders to sell up to 5% of their coins, which are currently "locked" for a year and unable to be sold.

The sale of Central African Republic's first digital coin got off to a slow start, with just over 5% of the target bought in the hours after its launch, amid questions about the project's transparency and a wider downturn in the industry, Reuters reported. Central African Republic (CAR), one of the world's poorest countries, became the first African state to make bitcoin legal tender in April, baffling many cryptocurrency experts and prompting the International Monetary Fund to warn it was not a "panacea" for Africa's challenges.

A regional central bank is clamping down on Bitcoin transactions after the Central African Republic adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender without consulting its monetary authority, Bloomberg News reported. The Bank of Central African States, which already doesn’t recognize cryptocurrencies, is now preventing all lenders from partnering with payment platforms that transact in digital currencies or from recognizing them as an asset.

Central African Republic has adopted bitcoin as an official currency, the presidency said on Wednesday, becoming the first country in Africa and only the second in the world to do so, Reuters reported. Despite rich reserves of gold and diamonds, Central African Republic is one of the world's poorest and least-developed countries and has been gripped by rebel violence for years. A bill governing the use of cryptocurrency was adopted unanimously by parliament last week, said a statement signed by Obed Namsio, chief of staff of President Faustin-Archange Touadera.