Just over 5% of the target was bought in the first few hours after Sango Coin, the first digital currency issued by the Central African Republic, was introduced.
Only $1.09 million of the initial $21 million worth of Sango Coin had been bought by the time sales began at 17:00 GMT on Monday.
“A crypto project not selling out its initial mint is a poor sign,” said Joseph Edwards, head of financial strategy at Solrise, a crypto investment firm.
“It’s hard to get a precise read on things because of the whole coin and project’s deliberately obscure structure.”
One of the world’s poorest nations, the Central African Republic (CAR), became the first state in Africa to recognise bitcoin as legal tender in April, confounding many cryptocurrency specialists and causing the International Monetary Fund to caution that it was not a “panacea” for Africa’s problems.
However, the government claims that its digital coin project will help the mineral-rich, war-torn nation advance into a better future. Despite the fact that the price of such assets has fallen this year, it plans to raise up to $1 billion over the coming year through the sale of its Sango Coin, according to its investment website.
What exchanges the coin will be listed on when the sales are over and how the money will be spent are among the details that are still up in the air.
Another expert in the cryptocurrency sector claimed that Sango Coin lacked what many crypto aficionados consider to be one of the assets’ primary advantages a lack of official participation.
“They’re building something that is literally controlled by the government,” she said, declining to be named.