Hey, everyone! Hold on tight, because this is heating up. 🔥 Today we are going to break down a very shady situation that happened with the folks from TON and their famous "Golden Visa". I swear, this story has it all: promises that sound like fairy tales, furious regulators, and a rollercoaster of prices that left more than one person with their heart in their hands. 🎢
It turns out that The Open Network Foundation (TON) got creative and dropped the bomb 💣: you could get the Golden Visa from the United Arab Emirates if you got involved in their business! They said that by simply betting about 100,000 dollars in their crypto, Toncoin, for three years, and paying an extra 35,000 dollars for the paperwork, you were all set! You were on the list to live the Dubai dream. Even Pavel Durov himself, the head of Telegram, gave it tremendous publicity. 🗣️ Of course, people went crazy! The price of Toncoin skyrocketed more than 10% in just a few hours. It was rising like foam! 📈
But, as they say, what rises quickly, falls quickly. 📉 As soon as the regulators from the United Arab Emirates found out about the move, they got more serious than an audit. Three very important agencies (the Identity Agency, the Securities Agency, and the Virtual Assets Agency of Dubai) released a joint statement saying "no way!". 🙅♀️ They made it clear that TON does not have a license in the Emirates and that betting crypto is useless for obtaining residency. They shut it down right away!
When people saw that the story had fallen apart, the price of Toncoin plummeted rapidly. And that’s when the accusations started that this was a classic "pump and dump", a scheme to inflate the price and then sell everything. Even the founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, made a jab at it, leaving everyone in doubt. 🤔
In the end, the director of TON had no choice but to step up and apologize. He said it had all been a "premature announcement" and that it was a pilot project with a third party. Can you imagine the situation? 🤦♂️
This episode is a clear example of why you need to be cautious about what comes out in the world of crypto. Not everything that shines is gold. This teaches us not to dive headfirst into the first promise made to us, especially when it involves green bills and serious matters like visas and residencies. So, stay alert because the streets are tough, and scams are everywhere. 👀$TON
