Iran Turns to Bitcoin in Preparation for Renewed U.S. Sanctions
With U.S. President Donald Trump declining to renew a nuclear deal with Iran, citizens of the country are turning to bitcoin. Iran is facing renewed sanctions from the United States which could signal the start of new economic problems. There are also reports that the Iranian government is looking to create a state-owned cryptocurrency.
Impending Economic Troubles
Fresh sanctions from the U.S. will Iran’s exports especially oil which forms a considerable portion of its GDP. The country’s currency, the rial has lost a lot of ground on the U.S. dollar. This decrease in value follows several months of forex shortage and financial difficulties in the banking sector. As a result, the local economy has been declining with the situation expected to worsen with the issuing of fresh sanctions. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has tried to remedy the situation but seemingly to no avail. The apex bank unified the official and black-market forex rates, but the rial has continued to plummet.
Iran Sanctions: People Are Turning To To Get Money Out
— Dennis Parker⚡️ (@Xentagz)
A State-owned Crypto Solution.
There have been numerous reports that the Iranian government is developing a state-owned cryptocurrency. Jayad Azari-Jahromi, the country’s ICT Minister, in April that an experimental model of the local crypto project was ready. This announcement followed the placed by the CBI on bitcoin and other cryptos. The country’s apex bank prohibited all banks and lending institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions.
If Iran does develop a local crypto, it will be following in the footsteps of Venezuela. The Latin-American nation launched its petro cryptocurrency earlier in the year. Many see the petro as a way of circumventing economic restrictions affecting the country. In response, the United States has banned the petro, and this will likely diminish its exchangeability. If Iran decides to follow the same route, its local cryptocurrency will likely suffer the same ban.
bitcoin to the Rescue
Despite the bitcoin ban, Iranians are still using bitcoin to send money out of the country. According to reports in the local media, residents of the nation have spent more than in acquiring cryptos in recent months. The CBI ban, however, is expected to significantly reduce the outflow by making more significant transactions a lot more difficult.
Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, the Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Commission, believes most of the crypto activities in the country are speculative investments. He also said that foreign cryptocurrencies are a to Iran’s banking system. As such, it is necessary for the government to develop a national virtual currency.
Can Iran navigate the problems brought about by economic sanctions using cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comment section below.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock, iStockPhoto
Published at Fri, 11 May 2018 00:00:20 +0000
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BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon Team Up with the Chamber of Digital Commerce
(CDC) has announced they are adding two major international banks, BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon, to the Chamber’s Executive Committee.
The CDC is the world’s leading blockchain trade association. Through education and advocacy, it aims to develop a legal environment that fosters growth, innovation and investment in blockchain technology. Other members on the Chamber’s Executive Committee include IBM, Microsoft and BitGo.
The CDC and its Executive Committee members have a mutualistic relationship. In a recent conversation with bitcoin Magazine, Perianne Boring, Founder & President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, explained, “Executive Committee members play an active role in helping set the priorities of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. The Chamber oversees a number of that are working to promote the acceptance and use of digital assets and blockchain based technology. We strongly encourage all of our Executive Committee members to participate in as many of these valuable opportunities as are consistent with their interest.”
has a widespread international presence. Based in Europe, BNP Paribas has operations in 74 different countries. It specializes in three main aspects of banking: Domestic Markets, International Financial Services, and Corporate & Institutional Banking.
Sadia Halim, Managing Director at BNP Paribas, said in a recent statement, “Blockchain technology has the potential to change the way banks work. It presents many advantages such as more transparency, traceability and security for our clients. BNP Paribas continues to explore various possibilities with the blockchain technology and other innovative tools and looks forward to working closely with the Chamber and its members.”
, the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, provides financial services for institutions, corporations and individual investors in 35 countries. Recently, BNY Mellon created BDS 360, a test system that creates a backup record of brokerage transactions and is powered by blockchain technology.
Alex Batlin, Global Head of Emerging Business & Technology and Global Blockchain Lead of BNY Mellon, said in a statement about the addition to the committee, “Blockchain technology is the future of the transactions in the financial industry. Active innovation in these early stages is crucial to identifying and creating the most effective and beneficial implementations. BNY Mellon is proud to be a vocal advocate for distributed ledger technology and we look forward to collaborating with the Chamber.”
The CDC is gaining even more momentum as a large presence in the blockchain technology and digital asset field. “BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon are new and valued relationships,” said Boring. “There are other major banks in the process of joining the Chamber’s Executive Committee as well. We see this high level participation as a sure sign of the value and accelerating pace of adoption of the blockchain, especially in the financial sector.”
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