Iran has been developing its own cryptocurrency, a project which has yielded an experimental local crypto, despite the country’s central bank banning banks from dealing with cryptocurrencies. Iran’s Information and Communications Technology Minister has shed light on the project, commented on its alleged use to evade sanctions, and clarified the central bank’s action.
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Iran’s Crypto Project
Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi.
Iran’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, revealed on Saturday that “Iran has developed an experimental local cryptocurrency,” Reuters reported him saying. “Last week, at a joint meeting to review the progress of the (local cryptocurrency) project, it was announced that the experimental model was ready.”
His statement follows the ban by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), prohibiting banks and financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The minister clarified that the ban will not affect Iran’s cryptocurrency efforts. The news outlet conveyed:
Iran cryptocurrency project [is] on track despite cenbank ban.
Iran’s central bank.
Azari-Jahromi is the country’s youngest minister and is known as an innovator. He tweeted in February that Post Bank of Iran, a subsidiary of his ministry that has 400 branches and 14,500 offices across the country, had been working with local experts on an experimental cryptocurrency model that would be presented to the country’s banks for review and approval.
The research department of the ICT Ministry and the monetary and financial research institute of the central bank have been collaborating in order to examine and create the legal framework for fintech, Eranico publication reported Azari-Jahromi explaining. He further noted, “To date the results of this cooperation is good and the pilot sample is being implemented,” adding that “The
