The Central African Republic has legally recognized the use of crypto currency, becoming the first country in Africa to accept the use of crypto legally.
This comes after the president signed into law a bill that was adopted by deputies last recently. The law has now made bitcoin an official currency alongside the West African CFA franc in the CAR.
President Faustin Archange Touadera validated the law Wednesday last week, saying the exchange rate between cryptocurrencies and the FCFA is freely determined by the market.
Following the new law’s effectiveness, the government has said that tax contributions can also be paid in cryptocurrencies through platforms recognized by the government.
El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last year, making Central African Republic the second country in the world to accept the cryptocurrency as legal tender.
The Central African Republic is among the world’s poorest countries, according to the United Nations, and has been in a state of insecurity and increasing violence in the past decade. The government controls the capital, but much of the country is controlled by armed groups.
Many officials and civil society groups including Citizens Standing in Solidarity with the Central African Republic have protested this law, saying it risks national sovereignty.
“By imposing cryptocurrencies as national currency, the power of Bangui has just sold off the little that still remained of the authority of the State and its power to control its economy, and therefore its development,” the group said in a statement.