Iran Announces Plans For Its Own Cryptocurrency
Iran, a country that has been the target of US-led sanctions for quite some time, has announced plans to develop its own cryptocurrency. Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahrom, Iranian engineer and the nation's Minister of Information and Communications Technology, tweeted on Wednesday that the government-run Post Bank is working on Iran's crypto-related project.
Roughly translated from Farsi (Persian), his tweet stated:
"In a meeting with the board of directors of Post Bank on digital currencies based on the blockchain, I ... prescribed ... measures to implement the country's first cloud-based digital currency".
Additionally, the Iran Front Page revealed that the Central Bank of Iran is trying to monitor the use of cryptocurrencies with the help of a few other institutions.
Cryptos: "Highly Unreliable" & Risky
According to the central bank, the crypto-market is "highly unreliable" and risky due to its extreme volatility. The bank also cited concerns regarding questionable "network marketing" tactics involving cryptocurrencies and even pyramid schemes. Like many other world authorities, the bank discouraged the country's citizens from investing in digital currencies because of the possibility of losing "their financial assets".
As most crypto-watchers would know, Iran is not the first country to consider developing its own digital currency. Notably, Venezuela, another country that has been hit hard with international sanctions, has already launched the Petro, its oil-backed cryptocurrency. In fact, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims that the Petro has already raised approximately $735 million.
No Details Regarding Iran's Crypto Plans
Iran is well-known for maintaining a high level of secrecy regarding many of its government-led projects, especially its nuclear program. Therefore, it's possible that we may not be able to obtain any reliable information regarding the details of its crypto-project. Moreover, the so-called rogue state's insistence on carrying on with its controversial nuclear plan has resulted in a loss of $100 billion in foreign direct investment and oil revenues. It's also estimated that the total loss is around $500 billion if you factor in "opportunity costs".
Presumably, Iran might be planning to develop its own cryptocurrency in an attempt to bypass internationally imposed sanctions. That's because leaders of other countries, such as Venezuela, which is also suffering from similar crippling economic restrictions, have suggested that they've developed their own crypto to circumvent sanctions. However, the United States has warned countries like Venezuela that they could be violating sanctions if they intend to use digital currencies to conduct prohibited transactions.
Although Iran and Venezuela are poles apart when it comes to their ideology and culture, both nations have been heavily scrutinized by the American government. But, if the crypto-market continues to grow and develop, there might come a time when the United States, or even the United Nations, might not be able to assert their dominance over other countries. The reason they might lose their grip on power is because almost everything depends on the flow of money. When the U.S. won't be able to restrict trades or transactions as effectively, then it will begin to lose most of its control over the world.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://cryptocoremedia.com/iran-state-cryptocurrency/