Breaking News: TON's Golden Visa Dream Crumbles Under UAE's "No Approval" Stance

Hold onto your Toncoins, folks! UAE regulators dropped a bomb with just three words—"no formal approval"—and it blew up TON's viral staking-for-visa scheme. The TON Foundation swears it was just dipping its toes in, but skeptics are calling it another crypto fiasco.

On July 7, the TON Foundation was in full damage control mode, trying to explain its part in a rogue golden visa scheme after UAE bigwigs slapped it down in a rare joint statement, saying they had nothing to do with it.

The drama kicked off on July 5 when a now-vanished X post promised that staking $100,000 in Toncoin (TON) could rocket you to a 10-year UAE residency. The buzz was electric, spreading like wildfire and even piquing the interest of Binance's Changpeng Zhao.

But the party ended fast. By July 6, the UAE's top dogs from the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, the Securities and Commodities Authority, and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority shut down the hype, declaring no such golden ticket exists.

"Just to set the record straight, no official Golden Visa program has been launched with the UAE government, and we haven't got their blessing either," the TON Foundation admitted.

Behind TON's Retreat: What They Said—and What They Didn't

The TON Foundation's attempt to backpedal from the unauthorized golden visa hype only stirred up more dust. They called it "exploratory," but that didn't fly, especially with their vague talk of a "licensed partner" in blockchain—without spilling any beans on who that might be.

And they totally dodged the big questions about how they'd ever navigate the UAE's tight crypto rules.

In their July 7 statement, the TON Foundation insisted the project was in its "early stages" and promised to play by the rules—a clear nod that they'd leaped before they looked. Their vow to be more "transparent" moving forward sounded pretty weak to critics, who pointed out how crypto projects are increasingly making bold moves into the real world without the regulatory green light.

Even Binance's Changpeng Zhao, based right in the UAE, got caught up in the frenzy for a hot second, hinting that BNB Chain might follow suit if it checked out.

"if this is real, bnb should do the same"

But within a day of calling the rumored visa program "awesome," CZ flipped the script, calling it out as "aggressive and misleading marketing"—a wake-up call that even the big shots can get swept up in the hype.

"FWIW. If this article is true (common sense says it is), then it's just aggressive/misleading marketing. DYOR.

You can pay $1k (in most major cryptos) to an agent to submit an application for a golden visa. No guarantees, but if you are worth your salt, there is a high chance…"

Whether TON's blunder will push the crypto world to tighten up how they roll out new projects is anyone's guess. But for now, their golden visa dream has turned into a lead balloon.