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Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

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Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#21

Post by gcb0 »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #8

I am a sanctions guy at a local financial institution. I only speak for myself. I read through this and lack of any detail is telling ( not unlike with EU SPV and Venezuela's own crypto attempt ). Personally, I think that crypto will face the same fate as potcoin, but even when we assume it works, it will work well locally. If there is one thing we learned by now, it is that the whole point of sanctions like these is…

if you're an authority on the matter and consider the news pure noise, why share it anywhere?

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#22

Post by stunt »

amiraliakbari wrote: post #10

This article seems to be just speculations without any reliable source. Using cryptocurrencies for any meaningful amount of money is impractical for sanctioned countries because of difficulties in exchange with fiat currencies. Currently the Iran government forces very restrictive policies on cryptocurrency use by people. Even if there is a CBDC project under development, a small project done as an experiment does no…

> (I am CTO of a local cryptocurrency exchange market in Iran)

Is it still possible to trade there? I remember reading that some exchanges like Bittrex are going to block Iranian accounts because of new sanctions.

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#23

Post by jdfiugikdf823 »

gcb0 wrote: post #21
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #8

I am a sanctions guy at a local financial institution. I only speak for myself. I read through this and lack of any detail is telling ( not unlike with EU SPV and Venezuela's own crypto attempt ). Personally, I think that crypto will face the same fate as potcoin, but even when we assume it works, it will work well locally. If there is one thing we learned by now, it is that the whole point of sanctions like these is…

if you're an authority on the matter and consider the news pure noise, why share it anywhere?

Identifying noise is a valuable service for interested parties.

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#24

Post by zozbot123 »

rdl wrote: post #16

If there are zero trust atomic swaps to some more broadly used currency, and this one has privacy-protecting features, it would actually have a chance.

Sorry, but this is an absolute non-starter, it has zero chance. Nobody trusts Iran on anything "atomic" anymore, and even zero-trust isn't enough - we've been deep in negative territory for quite some time. This is just too radioactive.

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#25

Post by chabes »

chvid wrote: post #14

What are these things exactly (this and Venezuela's "petro")? Tokens on the eth blockchain? Something else?

I’m pretty sure the Petro was just a centralized database that the Maduro administration controlled and called a blockchain. Not too dissimilar from their government..

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#27

Post by auiya »

mihaifm wrote: post #15

Honestly, Iranian banks have a better chance of wiring money abroad if they use Monero, but obviously it's not a solution the government will accept, because well, no control. If they decide to fork any existing cryptocurrency or create some kind of token, it's likely to be banned on exchanges. I don't see how they could pull this off.

Wasn't Ripple/XRP designed for this exact purpose? Being a SWIFT replacement?

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#28

Post by toss1 »

Sound great, but it's an insanely steep wall to climb.

* Their main goal, and problem, is to exchange to & from other currencies. They'll be subject to their coin being a poison pill that causes any bank or exchange dealing with it to be sanctioned, risking their own access to SWIFT, etc. How will they attract miners when miners will face the same exchange difficulties?

* Trust will be minimal, since it not only starts out as just another shtcoin among thousands, but unless they are VERY transparent and do no pre-mining or take other excess rights/value available to coin-makers, who else would trust it? E.g., that Venezuelan coin, supposedly backed by oil barrels, has it done anything good?

Even if they do get people to trust it, and get ways to exchange it, they'll certainly be target of state-level cyber-attacks if the currency gains any traction, and either a massive corrupting hack or a 51% attack could be even more devastating than having never started in the first place.

I'm buying popcorn.

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#29

Post by amiraliakbari »

stunt wrote: post #22
amiraliakbari wrote: post #10

This article seems to be just speculations without any reliable source. Using cryptocurrencies for any meaningful amount of money is impractical for sanctioned countries because of difficulties in exchange with fiat currencies. Currently the Iran government forces very restrictive policies on cryptocurrency use by people. Even if there is a CBDC project under development, a small project done as an experiment does no…

> (I am CTO of a local cryptocurrency exchange market in Iran) Is it still possible to trade there? I remember reading that some exchanges like Bittrex are going to block Iranian accounts because of new sanctions.

Almost all of major exchanges block Iranian users. There are risks, but you can use fake identities, VPNs and such techniques to bypass restrictions. The main problem is converting among cryptocurrencies and USD, but there are channels and people that supply stable coins using links with neighbor countries. In fact, USDT price in Iran is just about 5% higher than USD. Having USDT or by mining, you can easily trade all cryptocurrencies, especially in crypto-to-crypto exchanges.

Also local exchanges like out startup operate in Iran to match domestic supply and demand without the need of external entities. But anyways, this is all about not-so-large sums of money and not government level transactions.

Re: Iran to Launch State-Backed Cryptocurrency to Counter SWIFT and US Regulations

#30

Post by runeks »

rdl wrote: post #19
amiraliakbari wrote: post #10

This article seems to be just speculations without any reliable source. Using cryptocurrencies for any meaningful amount of money is impractical for sanctioned countries because of difficulties in exchange with fiat currencies. Currently the Iran government forces very restrictive policies on cryptocurrency use by people. Even if there is a CBDC project under development, a small project done as an experiment does no…

I can think of ways for them to essentially use crypto as a negotiable bond (high rates due to uncertainty about politics and stability, although Iran itself is a good long-term growth bet in ways other than politics). Issue the CBDC in a way which essentially promises appreciation, do cross-chain atomic swaps for other currencies for overseas purchasing. Might not be more efficient than, say, shipping tankers full o…

Iran can easily issue BTC- or ETH-denominated bonds.

Why would a free market buy bonds denominated in some newly created currency? Smells like the issuer just wants to be able to devalue this currency in order to pay the interest.

In the end, the reason reasonable investors won't buy 30% BTC-denominated Iranian govt. bonds is that Iran will have to exchange the ETH/BTC earned from selling the bond (because whoever Iran wants to pay don't accept ETH/BTC), which exposes the investment to a huge exchange rate risk.

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