The most populous city of the United Arab Emirates has launched its own cryptocurrency. The story goes that the Dubai-based company Arabianchain Technology is using a public blockchain to power its crypto, DubaiCoin (DBIX).
The coin was launched earlier this week at the starting price of $0.17. However, its price has gone up several times since the release. After only 24 hours, the price reached $1.13, where it remains at the moment of writing.
First Blockchain Cryptocurrency in the Arabic World
Arabianchain Technology claims that DubaiCoin is the first cryptocurrency in the Arabic world that’s based on a public blockchain. The idea behind the coin is to be used for payments both off and online.
The circulation of DubaiCoins is going to be supervised by the city of Dubai, as well as a group of authorized brokers decided by the company itself. Apart from keeping control of the number of DBIX in circulation, they will also be in charge of its price.
The reason behind this idea is to prevent the coin from becoming highly volatile, as it’s been the case with other cryptocurrencies over the last couple of weeks. As a reminder, we saw Bitcoin reaching its all-time high of over $67,000 a few weeks ago, only to crash below $40,000 a few days later.
Potential Currency of the Central Bank?
Due to the fact that it’s going to be controlled by Dubai officials and licensed brokers, DubaiCoin isn’t like most other cryptocurrencies, e.g., Bitcoin. Instead, it’s more like digital Yuan, China’s state-run cryptocurrency project.
China’s crypto is currently being tested in the country, with the public launch expected in a couple of years, probably in 2024 or 2025. Lessons learned from Dubai could potentially speed up the process in China. The same goes for India, a country that’s likely to closely monitor the growth of DubaiCoin in order to get enough knowledge for the development of its own crypto.
As it closely resembles the state-owned cryptos, DubaiCoin could perhaps turn into one such currency as well. Even though it’s developed by a private company, the cryptocurrency could end up completely in the hands of the government.
The decision to make such a purchase would mean a large expenditure for the government of the United Arab Emirates, especially if the popularity of DubaiCoin continues growing.
As a reminder, the price of DubaiCoin has gone 1,000% up within 24 hours from the launch. However, the reason for this might not be in a huge public interest regarding the new crypto. It could mean that there’s something fishy going on.
“An Elaborate Phishing Scam”
A press release at dub-pay.com claimed DubaiCoin was the official cryptocurrency of the city, which was then picked up by numerous news outlets in the region. As the news spread, the government of Dubai issued a statement calling the press release “an elaborate phishing scam.”
DubaiCoin creators ArabianChain Technology also issued a statement denaying that they had antyhign to do with the press release.
“We haven’t made such an announcement, please be cautious. Also, this website: http://dub-pay.com/en/ is fake and scam. Please be careful!”
ArabianChain Technology said about the controversial press release.
The rise in the price of DubaiCoin made people suspicious – many thought it happened due to the fake news. However, several days after the storm has settled, the price of the crypto still stands high, at practically the same level as it were the day when the press release went public.
