In recent days, fake news circulated that UAE Sheikh Hamdan bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, was ready to launch a $100 million blockchain investment fund.
But it wasn’t true.
The fake news of the sheikh and the blockchain fund in the UAE
It was a press release issued by a well known agency in the industry that led the media world astray.
The fake news announced the 100 million fund by the Arab Sheikh with the aim of bringing 50% of transactions on blockchain by the end of the year.
The news seemed well-founded given Dubai’s growing interest in the technology. However, the sheikh’s entourage has now denied it.
Crypto world and fake news
There has been a lot of fake news in the crypto world over the years.
A recent one involved Walmart: in September, a fake press release announced that the supermarket chain would accept Litecoin. It wasn’t true. Walmart opened an investigation, while in the meantime the price of Litecoin underwent a pump and dump on the wave of enthusiasm and disappointment of the crypto community.
Another interesting case involved XRP a few days ago. A fake press release announced that the SEC had dropped its lawsuit against Ripple. It was Ripple’s turn to dampen everyone’s joy and say that it would be too good to be true, and it was indeed not true.
One could also mention the fake news of celebrities who invested in phantom automated Bitcoin trading platforms and got rich, but that is another matter.
The fact remains that the sector seems to be particularly vulnerable to these episodes. The problem is that these fake news stories also have consequences on the price of the assets involved, triggering buying and selling at close quarters.
The United Arab Emirates and the blockchain
In this latest case of the blockchain investment fund of the Crown Sheikh of Dubai, the news had a solid basis. Dubai is in fact proving to be a hub for blockchain and the crypto world. In addition to grand events, it is recent news that Dubai’s World Trade Center, one of the country’s free zones, will open for crypto trading. This means that businesses such as exchanges, wallets and the like will find it easier to obtain licences and benefit from tax advantages.
That’s why it didn’t seem crazy for the Crown Sheikh to invest in a blockchain fund to digitize transactions.
It’s proof that in the crypto world, one must always be careful and never take anything for granted. After all, there is a clear saying in the industry: don’t trust, verify.
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