Scam Currency Dubaicoin Skyrockets 1000% Before Official Debunking

Dubaicoin launched a few days ago on a fake website, and grew in value by more than 1000% before being officially denounced

Dubaicoin purportedly launched a few days ago, and had been performing excellently. Developed by a company calling itself Arabianchain Technology, it claimed to be  the first public, decentralised and consensus-driven blockchain in the MENA region. On May 27th, the Dubai Electronic Security Centre became aware of the coin, calling itself the official cryptocurrency of Dubai, and intervened, posting this warning on Twitter:

The true ArabianChain Technology subsequently came out to distance itself from the currency, warning that the link given in the press release dub-pay.com/en/ is a fake:

According to the Khaleej Times, ArabianChain has launched a full investigation into how its credentials were used in this fraudulent manner. The principal cryptocurrency tracking platforms have now removed the fake currency from their websites to prevent further investors from being attracted by the impressive growth rate and losing their funds.

The fake press release had claimed that ‘DubaiCoin will soon be able to be used to pay for a range of goods and services both in-store and online, with the clear intention for the coin to be used in place of traditional bank-backed currencies. Circulation of the new digital currency will be controlled by both the city itself and authorised brokers.’

The surge in the coin’s value bucked the trend of the other major virtual currencies such as BitCoin and Ethereum, which have both experienced losses of around 10% over the past week. According to crypto.com, close to $600,000 in DubaiCoins were traded before the authorities intervened:

Clicking on the link provided in the press release now leads to a blocked website.