The Central African Republic (CAR) President’s X account announced the launch of an official meme coin on February 9, claiming it would boost the country’s global presence and contribute to national development.
However, concerns have emerged after deepfake detection tools flagged the video announcement as possibly fake, raising doubts about the project’s legitimacy.
Deepfake detection tools flag the president’s video as suspicious
In his post on X, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra stated that the CAR token, named $CAR, was designed to unite people and promote the country’s growth through cryptocurrency. He emphasized his support for digital assets, referencing CAR’s earlier decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
Following the announcement, a video of the president promoting the token was posted online. However, deepfake detection tools have raised concerns about its authenticity. The Deepwater detection tool labeled the video as “suspicious.” The Seferbekov model estimated an 82% chance that the video was artificially generated, while the Ensemble model placed the probability at 60%.
Two other deepfake detection models, Avatarify and Deepware’s checker, did not confirm the video as fake. Speculation has grown over whether the president’s X account was hacked. Some online analysts have questioned the project’s legitimacy, pointing to the fact that the domain for the CAR meme coin was registered only a few days ago using Namecheap, an online domain registration service.
X suspends CAR meme coin account amid skepticism
Shortly after the announcement, the official X account associated with the CAR meme coin was suspended. The reason for the suspension has not been confirmed, but the president stated that he is working with X to restore the account.
Industry figures have amplified concerns over the token’s credibility. Yokai Ryujin, founder of an undisclosed project, warned his team about the coin’s suspicious origins. He noted that a national leader would not typically use a recently registered domain for an official government initiative.
CAR token surges to $600 million before dropping
According to the official CAR meme coin website, the token’s allocation includes 25% for the country’s development, 20.7% for liquidity, 10% for charity, and 9.3% for public distribution. However, blockchain data from Solscan shows that a significant portion of the token supply is concentrated in a few wallets.
Approximately 33% of the total supply is held in one wallet, 25% in another, and two additional wallets contain 9.81% and 8.39% of the tokens. Meanwhile, the liquidity pool allocation of 20.7% has not yet been distributed.
The disputed token once achieved $600 million market value until it decreased to $298 million and currently trades at $0.2937. The current market price of $CAR stands at $0.2937. The investigation into project credibility remains ongoing while investors together with experts study its authenticity.