After El Salvador, the Central African Republic is the second country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. The cryptoasset will be used as legal tender alongside the CFA franc with the new legislation.
The adoption of bitcoin was recently announced by the office of President Faustin Archange Touadera, shortly after the legislative proposal was voted on by the National Assembly of the Central African Republic.
In addition to bitcoin, the bill created by the Minister of Digital Economy, Gourna Zacko, and the Minister of Finance and Budget, Calixte Nganongo, establishes guidelines for the operation of the crypto market in the country.
The Central African Republic currently has about 5 million inhabitants. However, only 11% of the population has access to the internet nationwide. In an interview with Bloomberg, Finance Minister Herve Ndoba said that the cryptoasset adoption puts the country as a pioneer in digital currency recognition.
“There is a common narrative that sub-Saharan African countries are often one step behind when it comes to adapting to new technologies. This time, we can say that our country is one step ahead”.
Before the Central African Republic adopted bitcoin as legal tender, El Salvador was the first country to acknowledge the cryptoasset. Since September 7, 2021, the Salvadoran population has been using the digital currency alongside the dollar.
