Dubai launches its own digital currency

Back in 2018, I wrote about ‘Smart Dubai’— a public-private partnership to create a smart city with a seamless experience for its citizens & an efficient city government powered by blockchain technology. As part of the broader digitization of the city-state, Dubai launched its own KYC Blockchain Platform last summer. The blockchain platform is designed to unlock digital customer onboarding, instant bank account functions, and verified KYC data sharing between licensing authorities and financial institutions.

Many countries including the two biggest economies of the U.S & China are actively involved in exploring the digitization of their national currencies. China is actually way ahead with the pilot project currently ongoing in the country. While in the U.S, Digital Dollar Foundation has recently announced the launch of five pilot programs over the next 12 months to test the potential uses of a U.S. central bank digital currency — the first effort of its kind in the United States.

Coming back to the business hub of Dubai, the stunning Emirates city is securing its place as a key player in the future of global business and trade. With the launch of ‘DubaiCoin’, it has taken a huge step forward in becoming the World’s first blockchain-powered government. Traders & investors can explore further options on their website.

According to the press release, the local digital currency will 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 authorized brokers. The denomination is set at $0.17 per one coin.

DubaiCoin is part of the bigger initiative in the form of ArabianChain Technology — an open-source, community-based project with the goal of building a decentralized, consensus-driven, peer-to-peer, open-source, blockchain-based platform for distributed applications. The UAE-based venture boasts of global talent from companies like Microsoft, Dell, Ericsson, and Oracle.

Originally Published on Medium

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