The Central African Republic (CAR), the second country in the world to adopt bitcoin as a legal currency after El Salvador, plans to develop a hub to attract cryptocurrency businesses and enthusiasts to the nation.
The initiative, coined Sango, was started by the CAR National Assembly with support by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, per a 24-page document detailing the project’s goals. Sango seeks to “pave the way to a digital future of endless possibilities,” per its webpage. Touadéra tweeted in support of Sango on Tuesday.
In addition to building a legal Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hub recognized by its parliament, Sango aims to take “the Bitcoin legacy to the next level” and institute a “cryptocurrency economic zone” in the Sango Island – where users will be able to propose, view and contribute to its future developments.
According to the document, CAR’s plans include “facilitating land acquisition in bitcoin for investors worldwide” and creating a Digital National Bank. The government said in the document that it will also “fully support” access to the country’s natural resources such as gold, diamonds, uranium, lithium and oil.
Sango’s legal framework will include an e-residency program, citizenship by investment, online business registration and no income or corporate tax, per the document. CAR plans to devise this dedicated legal framework before the end of 2022.
The document also mentions the creation of a Bitcoin wallet to send, receive and store BTC that will be compatible with the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s second-layer protocol for cheaper and faster payments. The wallet will also be compatible with point-of-sale (PoS) for businesses to accept bitcoin payments and feature an integrated accounting system.
CAR also plans to finalize the Central African Backbone (CAB) internet interconnection before the end of the year to power its “entire digital transformation,” it said in the document.
CAR last month became the second country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender after El Salvador pioneered in the global scene with its Bitcoin Law in September 2021.
The Sango hub news comes to bring foreign investors to the country, likely in an attempt to further develop a nation that has one of the lowest GDPs, according to World Bank data.