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Dubai Government Warns Against DubaiCoin Cryptocurrency Scam
The price of DubaiCoin rose from $0.09 to $1.13 within just 24 hours after a press release claimed it would be Dubai’s official cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency investors have been facing some serious challenges lately. Prices of all major cryptocurrencies have been falling steadily ever since Elon Musk drew attention to Bitcoin’s energy consumption in a series of tweets, ultimately announcing Tesla’s decision to stop accepting Bitcoin as a payment method.
Watching their cryptocurrency portfolios deflate at an alarming rate, many investors have been turning their attention to various alternative cryptocurrencies and tokens of questionable value and origin, hoping that at least some of them will skyrocket in value.
This perhaps explains why a cryptocurrency called DubaiCoin increased by more than 1,000% after just 24 hours since its creators published a press released on a website called DubPay (website no longer available) and managed to get it listed on PR Newswire. Another reason for DubaiCoin’s short-lived success was certainly the fact that the press released claimed that it would become Dubai’s official digital currency.
“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,” the press release said. “Circulation of the new digital currency will be controlled by both the city itself and authorized brokers.”
Also Read: The Top 3 Altcoins To Keep An Eye On In 2021
The price of DubaiCoin rose from $0.09 to $1.13, and it would likely continue to climb even higher if it wasn’t for Dubai’s government decision to issue a tweet in which they called DubaiCoin an elaborate phishing scam designed to steal personal information from its visitors.
The company responsible for the creation of DubaiCoin, ArabianChain Technology, has also used Twitter to publicly deny all claims made in the press release. Victims of the scam have rushed to social media calling for actions to be taken against online publications that were quick to promote DubaiCoin as Dubai’s “official cryptocurrency” without validating the source of the news.
News
Saudi Digital Payments Reach 80% As Cash Use Shrinks
Visa data shows cards and mobile wallets dominate spending, with smartphones now driving a growing share of daily transactions.
Digital payments now account for 80% of all transactions in Saudi Arabia, according to Visa’s latest Where Cash Hides report, another marker of how quickly the Kingdom is moving away from cash.
The share is up four percentage points from a year ago. Around 67% of consumers are now largely non-cash users, paying mainly with cards or mobile wallets. Smartphones are taking a bigger role, with mobile payments making up 16% of transactions.
Cash is retreating in routine spending. Eating out dropped 9%. Bill payments fell 8%, as shoppers opt for faster checkouts and app-based payments.
“The data shows a steady move toward digital payments in Saudi Arabia. Such progress is possible only because banks, fintechs, merchants, and technology partners are moving together in the same direction, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” said Ali Bailoun, Visa’s Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman.
Also Read: UAE Users Sleep Less, But More Efficiently, ŌURA Data Reveals
Despite the recent findings, it’s important to note that cash hasn’t yet disappeared. It still shows up for tips (39%), peer-to-peer transfers (28%) and rent (14%).
Visa points to security features such as tokenization, along with rewards and cashback, as factors nudging more spending onto cards and phones — a shift that tracks with Saudi Arabia’s wider Vision 2030 push to digitize commerce.
Saudi Digital Payments Reach 80% As Cash Use Shrinks
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