The Central African Republic (CAR) shocked the world when its president announced that the country had adopted bitcoin as legal currency[1].
While some assumed that another nation would eventually follow the steps of El Salvador, which last year became the first country in the world to declare bitcoin a lawful currency[2], most didn’t expect this small African nation to be the one to follow suit.
But several factors may make the CAR a logical destination for bitcoin adoption. The CAR has one of the lowest gross domestic products[3] (GDPs) in the world. Its population, for the most part, is kept outside of the financial system and unwillingly shielded from technological developments like smartphones and the internet.
Intrigued by the conditions of the second country in the world to adopt bitcoin as formally-recognized money, a cohort of Bitcoin experts and enthusiasts, calling itself the Bitcoin Delegation, flew to the Central African Republic to understand more about the situation on the ground and to see how it could help enlighten CAR officials on ways to leverage Bitcoin for good.
The delegation is composed of Alex Gladstein, head of strategy at the Human Rights Foundation; Stacy Herbert, CEO of El Zonte Capital; Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3; Fodé Diop, CEO of the Bitcoin Developers Academy; Nicolas Burtey, CEO of Galoy; Noor El Bawab, director of partnerships at Galoy; Sebastien Gouspillou, CEO of BitBlock Data Center; Richard Détente, CEO of Détente Coopération; David Oren, co-founder of Solarly; Jean-Christophe Busnel, organizer of Surfin’Bitcoin and StackinSat; Josselin Tonnellier, co-founder of Surfin’Bitcoin and StackinSat; Gloire Wanzavalere, co-founder of Kiveclair and Africa Bitcoin Conference; Gilles Cadignan, CEO of Woleet; Jeff Gallas, CEO of Fulmo; and Lionel Jeannerat, CEO of PVHIstoire.
However, only seven traveled to the CAR: Burtey, El
