Law on cryptocurrencies: the Central African Republic reviews its copy

In April 2022, the Central African Republic was one of the first countries to make bitcoin a legal tender. REUTERS - DADO RUVIC

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In April 2022, the Central African Republic made bitcoin a legal tender in the same way as the currency in use in the sub-region the CFA franc, raising criticism from the Bank of Central African States and CEMAC. An extraordinary session of CEMAC was even convened on this subject last July. Central African law had been found to be inconsistent with the agreements and conventions governing the Central African Monetary Union and the statutes of the BEAC. And recommendations to amend the text had been made. The Central African Republic was therefore called upon to review its copy. What she did and presented for the first time on March 15 ahead of the CEMAC summit of heads of state.

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This text generally takes into account the observations of the central bank, says a specialist in the file. The priority for CEMAC was to see the mention of "legal tender" disappear. The only one admitted in the community is the CFA franc. The issue of the convertibility of cryptocurrencies without having made upstream contact with the Central Bank was also problematic.

While most of the text now seems to respond to the provisions of the region, some terms used in the new draft law still raise questions, such as those of "exchange rate". Discussions are therefore still taking place at the level of the BEAC but also with technical partners such as the IMF and the World Bank.

For a regional actor who prefers to remain anonymous, it would have been better to "bury this law". However, politically difficult for Bangui. For Martin Ziguélé, one of the fierce opponents of this law, it is "a total step backwards". He regrets not having been heard last year when, together with other MEPs, he warned that this law was contrary to the provisions of monetary union. It is therefore likely that this text will still be brushed, it will have to be voted again in the Central African National Assembly, but also scrutinized by jurists in the region.

At the end of the CEMAC summit, the heads of state decided to continue the reflections already undertaken with a view to developing a legal and regulatory framework for activities relating to the issuance and management of crypto-assets.

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Read on on the same topics:

  • Central African Republic
  • Cryptocurrencies