Officially, the Central Bank of Iran plans to start its pilot phase of digital currency. While the Islamic Republic wants to join an expanding club of countries that wish to have a sovereign currency, it is also seeking to use blockchain technology in other areas.
Iran will begin state-backed digital currency trials
According to the Iranian Labour News Agency, a top-ranking official of Iran’s financial regulator stated that the central bank will pilot digital currency (CBDC). It is now the fourth year anniversary of the original announcement.
Mehran Moharamian is the deputy governor of IT at Central Bank of Iran. He stated that the CBI views digital currencies as an option for solving inconsistencies and centralizing resources. He noted that CBDCs have been used in other countries.
Moharamian didn’t provide any details on the beginning of the pilot phase. Authorities in Tehran tasked the country’s Informatics Services Corporation with developing a “national cryptocurrency” in 2018. The CBI arm is operating the country’s banking automation and payment services network.
Later, the company explained that the Iranian digital currency has been designed using the Hyperledger Fabric platform, a blockchain framework implementation and one of Hyperledger’s projects hosted by the Linux Foundation.
Iranian Stock Market to be Revived by Blockchain
Although the Iranian crypto space remains largely unregulated — aside from mining — another report this week indicated that officials have been looking for various ways to employ the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
Iran’s capital market should genuinely consider using blockchain technology as it can help address some major needs of the share market and create new opportunities for its revival, Majid Eshqi, head of the Iranian Securities and Exchange Organization recently commented. He was quoted by SENA as well as the English-language newspaper Financial Tribune.
At the latest, in two years we will be compelled to make use of blockchain technology… It will not be long before we start tokenizing physical assets and stocks that can be easily traded on the new platforms.
He said that it was time to look at the potential for blockchain technology to address some of the existing problems, like identity verification, to start infrastructure.
Iranian media reported earlier in January that Tehran would allow local businesses to use cryptocurrency in international settlements. According to media reports, both the central bank and government have approved the use of digital currencies in international settlements.
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