According to local media sources, The Central Bank of Iran is ready to enable the use of cryptocurrency for foreign payments and transactions.
According to local media, Iranian enterprises would be allowed to use cryptocurrency in payments with partners in other nations. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Ministry of Industries, Mining, and Trade have reached an agreement to that goal. According to the Financial Tribune, Alireza Peyman Pak, the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, said:
We are finalizing a mechanism for the operations of the system. This should provide new opportunities for importers and exporters to use cryptos in their international deals.
Pak, who is also deputy minister of trade, took to social media to share details about the inaugural meeting of a combined foreign exchange working group between his department and the CBI, according to the Iranian news agency IBENA. The parties agreed to a variety of measures, including the use of the cryptosystem, to help Iran’s foreign commerce.
According to a follow-up report, the Trade Ministry will prepare a plan for the use of locally generated cryptocurrencies and coins acquired by private enterprises to pay for the import of products within two weeks. The Iranian Central Bank is the source of the initial proposal.
Pak stressed that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies have a wide range of applications and that if Iran ignores them, it will miss out on business prospects.
“While there may be restrictions on using cryptocurrencies in some of our target areas, particularly in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan, using cryptocurrencies is common in our key markets like Russia, China, India, and Southeast Asia,” he explained.
The Iranian Crypto Market
Apart from mining, which became legal in 2019, Iran’s crypto market is entirely uncontrolled. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) approved the use of domestically issued digital currency by domestic banks and money exchangers to pay for imports into the sanctioned country in April. Authorities in Tehran, on the other hand, have been cracking down on cryptocurrency trade and payments in the country.
According to a recent estimate, up to 12 million Iranians own cryptocurrency. Some officials have argued that restrictive measures will drive innovation underground.
Iranian fintech warned in May that restrictions would deny the country of prospects, pointing out that local enterprises have managed to circumvent the economic ban via cryptocurrency transactions.
