Iran Set to Launch its Central Bank-issued Digital Currency (CBDC) This Week

Iran Set to Launch its Central Bank-issued Digital Currency (CBDC) This Week

state-backed cryptocurrency

In its bid to circumvent the U.S sanction placed on its economy, the Iranian government has recently announced plans to launch a state-backed cryptocurrency this week.

Central Bank-issued Digital Currency (CBDC)

According to a recent report, the ‘state-backed cryptocurrency’ is going to be a ‘stablecoin’ as it will be backed by ‘Iran’s national currency, rial’. The coin is also been referred to as ‘Central Bank-issued Digital Currency (CBDC)’.

The government is expected to announce the launch of the national cryptocurrency at a ‘blockchain-based conference called ‘E-Banking and Payment System’. The conference is held for two days – i.e Jan 29 and Jan 30, 2019, in Tehran.

A Perfect Alternative to SWIFT

Currently, Iran has been blocked from accessing the international money transfer platform— SWIFT. This has resulted in some serious damage to the country’s international trade relationship and its entire economy.

The business in the country has so far been relying on the use of Cryptocurrencies most especially Bitcoin, to conducts its trades. With the launch of the CBDC, the country will be able to move money abroad using various crypto exchange platforms. Also, since the crypto is a stabelcoin, volatility is no longer a problem. This makes the coin a perfect alternative to SWIFT. Local usage of the crypto is expected to catch on very quickly.

However, international adoption of the coin is still not yet certain.

The likely future of the news Iranian central bank backed crypto was discussed recently by Yashar Rashedi from Radfa Iranian. According to Yashar; “Even as [CBDCs] may never find widespread everyday use among the general public, they may be able to offer some new features to startups and developers that had to work with centralised bank APIs before them.”