Cryptocurrencies have emerged as the saviour for countries that are going through an economic crisis. Be it hyperinflation, or be it US sanctions, countries that are going through a tough time are resorting to cryptos – and the latest name to hop on to that bandwagon is that of Iran. The country is now trying to launch their own cryptocurrency which will help them bypass these sanctions and trade freely.
For those who may not be aware, the US can issue ‘trade sanctions’ upon a country, which basically means that the US, as well as a number of their allies will no longer engage in trade with a country. These sanctions are issued on various humanitarian grounds such as invasion of one country into another, and in Iran’s case, nuclear stockpiling. Similar sanctions have been issued on countries such as Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela.
Iran is reportedly working on developing a state-backed cryptocurrency, and national authorities are actively discouraging citizens from investing into Bitcoins. The government of Iran plans to introduce a national cryptocurrency, which would be regulated and controlled by them. While Bitcoin is an unregulated and decentralized entity, the government wants to issue cryptos with a higher level of control.
A Forbes report points out that Iran might be getting help from Russia in this project, stating that Russia wants to build a network of payment which does not have to rely upon the US Dollar. The Forbes report reads:
Tehran’s cryptocurrency pivot likely is aided by Russia as part of a collaborative attempt to build a new system for global financial transactions to help their respective banks become “sanctions resistant.”
With Venezuela pushing the Petro as a national currency and with Iran working towards developing a national crypto, it is indeed appearing that cryptocurrencies may someday form a parallel economy against fiat money.
