Dubai’s Crypto Regulator Alerts Investors on New Memecoins Flooding Market

VARA was established in March 2022.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 17 February 2025 19:59 IST

Dubai’s Crypto Regulator Alerts Investors on New Memecoins Flooding Market

Photo Credit: Pixabay/ Danor Aharon

The memecoin market valuation stands at $60.04 billion, as per Forbes

Highlights

VARA has said that memecoins are subject to market manipulations
The regulatory body can restrict any suspicious memecoin project
Forbes has listed Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe among top memecoins

Dubai's crypto regulatory body has issued an alert about the risks related to memecoin investments owing to their increasing market penetration. The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) of Dubai has strictly asked the city's investor community to be cautious while engaging with memecoins, calling them “highly speculative” assets. As per VARA, memecoins pose a significant risk of financial loss to those who engage with it. Earlier this month, the commissioner of the US SEC had also highlighted the possibility of memecoins promising high returns in a short span of time being scam tokens.

VARA was established in March 2022 to oversee the crypto industry in Dubai. In recent months, the regulatory body has stepped up scrutiny over unregulated and risky digital assets.

Last week, in an official post, VARA highlighted its concerns with memecoins, a category of crypto assets branded after trending social media personalities, animals, or memes. Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are among popular memecoins that have managed to carve a niche for this category of crypto tokens in the broader market.

Animoca Brands, The Sandbox Join Saudi Arabia’s Web3 Alliance Group

“Memecoins are frequently subject to market manipulation. Many such assets lack intrinsic value and derive their pricing from social media trends, hype, or misleading promotional strategies,” VARA said in its statement.

The regulatory body has advised investors to refrain from engaging with newly launched memecoins, especially the ones that claim to fetch unrealistic returns to the investors. The body has the power to restrict any suspicious memecoin project without prior notice. It has advised crypto investors to protect their finances against questionable projects with lack of market history and fraudulent patterns.

The authority, meanwhile, has also warned crypto projects and firms from promoting unregistered tokens in Dubai.

Austria’s BitPanda Secures FCA Approval in UK: All Details

“Any promotion, advertising, or solicitation of virtual assets must adhere to VARA's marketing regulations. Entities engaging in unauthorised virtual asset activities may be subject to enforcement action,” it added.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce also addressed the memecoin menace. He said that many memecoins do not comply with current regulations in the US and asked the Congress and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to address concerns around memecoins.

As per Forbes, the memecoin market valuation stands at $60.04 billion (roughly Rs. 5,21,641 crore). Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe, Bonk, and Floki have been listed by Forbes as the top five memecoins by market cap.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Memecoins

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More