What is DubaiCoin and why is it in the news?

DubaiCoin, launched by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based company, Arabianchain Technology, is supposedly the first public blockchain-based cryptocurrency in the MENA region. The company’s aim is to capitalize on the strengths of blockchain technology to bring major transformations and innovations to tomorrow’s economy. This public blockchain allows people to generate their own DubaiCoin by mining them. The company recently announced that DubaiCoin will soon be accessible to be used for a variety of products and services both offline and online, and used in place of conventional bank-backed currencies. "Circulation of the new digital currency will be controlled by both the city itself and authorised brokers," the company said.

The news being; the price of the crypto rose by 1,000 per cent over the last 24 hours. According to Crypto.com, DubaiCoin was trading at around $0.17 but picked up to $1.13 on May 27.

However, the Government of Dubai explained that the digital coin has not been upheld by any official authority. “Dubai Coin cryptocurrency was never approved by any official authority. The website promoting the coin is an elaborate phishing campaign that is designed to steal personal information from its visitors,” the city said in a statement. ArabianChain has washed its hands off the controversy implying that the website shown on the fake press release is a scam. “We haven't made such an announcement, please be cautious,” they said.

DubaiCoin is not likely to work similarly to how other cryptocurrencies work. As mining of the digital currency grows, it will give on to higher volatility like all other cryptos. However, Arabchain said in a statement that the price will be controlled by the city of Dubai. It may also be permitted as a central bank digital currency and seems to be the closest thing to China’s official digital Yuan that is being tested in the country right now. It may be noted that India’s RBI also has plans to launch the country’s own digital currency.

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