A newly formed cryptocurrency in the middle East jumped in value on Thursday, after falsely claiming to be the official cryptocurrency for the city of Dubai. The token, called the Dubaicoin, Apparently jumped in vale by over 1000% in under 24 hour's, according to reports.
The company behind the token, called Arabchain Technology, claims to be the first public blockchain in the Arab world. In a press release, it said Dubaicoin would soon be used to purchase goods and services, which suggested that it was meant to be an alternative to the Dirham, the official currency in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company added that its value will be regulated by the city of Dubai, claims that seemed to convince many.

"Circulation of the new digital currency will be controlled by both the city itself and authorised brokers," the company said in the press release.


However, late last night, the government of Dubai refuted all these claims. In a tweet from the official handle, the Dubai government said the currency was never approved. “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 tweet said.

Interestingly, some reports claimed that Dubaicoin’s price had risen, citing Coinmarketcap. However, at the time of writing, the coin seemed to have disappeared from the website’s listings. It was also unavailable for trading on any major crypto exchanges.


A public blockchain based cryptocurrency that’s backed by a city or country is highly unlikely. Public blockchains allow the public to mine currency, and maintain the blockchain ledgers. However, most official digital currencies being considered around the world right now are expected to be on private blockchains so that central banks can maintain close control of their circulation, value, creation and more.