Hours after a new cryptocurrency called DubaiCoin (DBIX) was launched on Wednesday, the Dubai government said the digital currency was not approved by any official entity and that the website promoting the crypto is an elaborate phishing campaign to steal personal information from visitors.
The new digital asset was said to be launched by Arabian Chain Technology, which claims itself to be the first public blockchain in the Arabic world.
Dubai Coin cryptocurrency was never approved by any official authority, the government said in a tweet.
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. pic.twitter.com/Q0HBXfqaDO— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) May 27, 2021
According to a report by Khaleej Times, DubaiCoin was launched at an original price of $0.17 and was initially listed on a number of trading platforms. However, most have apparently removed it, including market-leading CoinMarketCap. It further added that an investigation on this is underway.
However, at 3:15 pm (IST) on Friday, Crypto.com showed DubaiCoin (DBIX) price frozen at $1.13, with a circulating supply of 4.26 million and market capitalisation of $4.84 million.
A cryptocurrency is a subset of virtual currencies, and is decentralised, and protected by cryptography. A virtual currency is basically a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and it functions as a medium of exchange. However, unlike a regular currency such as the rupee, it is not legal tender and does not have the backing of a government.