It’s Happening! Iran Authorizes National Crypto and Legalizes Bitcoin as UAE and S.Arabia Push On

By -
TheMerkle_Iran

It’s been a tug of war between cryptocurrencies and the legacy financial system in Iran. Iranians took to crypto early on, and this didn’t go well with the government. It banned the industry as a whole despite pleas from the crypto community. Finally, the tone has changed. Today, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) released a draft of regulations that effectively nullify its earlier crypto ban. The regulations are still quite some way from making Iran a crypto hub. However, they are a big first step towards introducing crypto to the people.

Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates and its neighbor Saudi Arabia are pushing forward with their joint national crypto project. Dubbed ‘Abber’, the project is working on a cryptocurrency that will initially focus on remittance between the two countries. The pilot will involve a few commercial banks and if successful, it will be rolled out nationally.

Come One, Come All

Since Donald Trump ascended to power, Iran has had it rough. President Trump hasn’t been Iran’s biggest fan and he imposed even tougher sanctions on the Islamic state. It was only a matter of time before the oil-rich country turned to the one financial system that can’t be censored; cryptocurrencies.

Today, the CBI published a draft of its regulations on cryptocurrencies dubbed Version 0.0. The regulations aim to define the boundaries of crypto operations in the country and allowing traders to trade within the confines of the law. The announcement was made on the eve of the Electronic Banking and Payment Systems Conference, an event whose theme this year is incidentally, ‘blockchain revolution.’

The draft recognizes and authorizes global cryptos such as bitcoin and ether. It also recognizes central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which the CBI expects to delve into soon as well as regional cryptos. It further recognizes and authorizes crypto exchanges, crypto wallets and initial coin offerings. For the first time, the crypto mining industry was also recognized as an industry.

The draft will go a long way in legitimizing cryptos in the country. Last April, the Iranian government had banned cryptos, warning all commercial banks against engaging in business with crypto firms. At the time, the government viewed cryptos as a risk of capital flight, fearing its citizens would put all their money in crypto which could have a far-reaching effect on the economy. Back then, its national currency was experiencing high inflation and the government feared cryptos could further compound the problem.

Not yet Time to Pop Champagne

Despite the great initiative by the Iranian government, it’s not yet time to pop the champagne. For one, using global cryptos as a payment method in the country is prohibited. This means that despite the law allowing citizens to trade cryptos, they have to convert them to fiat currency in order to pay at retail establishments.

The crypto community in Iran is, as expected, unhappy about this. Speaking to Al Jazeera, one Iranian crypto trader stated:

The ban on using internationally accepted cryptos as payment methods can negatively affect the work of me and many like me

The draft also bars Iranians from holding large amounts of global cryptos such as bitcoin. This law is not unique to cryptos, however, as Iranians are also barred from holding more than 10,000 euros. This aims at protecting the national currency against losing value.

Image(s): Shutterstock.com

The post It’s Happening! Iran Authorizes National Crypto and Legalizes Bitcoin as UAE and S.Arabia Push On appeared first on NullTX.



January 29, 2019 at 09:43PM

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8 Key Tips That Every Single Cryptocurrency Trader Needs to Know

By -
Image
Even though we’re now several years into cryptocurrency becoming somewhat mainstream, although the hype has worn off, the digital, decentralized monetary format is still very much a big earner for people around the world, more commonly known as cryptocurrency traders. As a cryptocurrency trader yourself, you’ve probably witnessed the highs and lows of the market yourself, or even if you’re just getting started, you’ll look for the best way to make a start. With this in mind, today we’re going to help you get going. Below, we’re going to explore eight essential need-to-know tips to help you make the most in your cryptocurrency trading career, ensuring you have the best and most profitable experience. #1 – It’s Just Getting Started Although lots of people have heard of Bitcoin or might have seen it on the news, it’s not fully integrated into society just yet, and there’s only a real minority of people out there who actually use cryptocurrencies daily. That means there’s so much roo
Read more

Over 20% of Institutional Investors Already Exposed to Cryptos, Survey by Fidelity Reveals

By -
Image
22 percent of institutional investors already have exposure to digital assets. This is according to a new report by Fidelity Investments, one of the largest asset managers in the world. The report goes against many crypto skeptics who have been quick to state that institutions are no longer interested in digital assets. The survey polled 441 institutional investors between November last year and February this year. Interestingly, this was a time in which cryptos hit their lowest levels. Nevertheless, institutional investors remained unfazed, with interest in digital assets never really dwindling. Tom Jessop, the president of Fidelity’s digital assets division explained, “We never saw a decline in interest or sentiment during the crypto winter.” The survey revealed that 47 percent of institutional investors view digital assets as “having a place in their portfolios.” The investors, who include crypto funds, also disclosed their preferred investment methodology. 72 percent prefer to
Read more
By -
Image
INTRODUCING "DEEP WEB" THAT LIES BEYOND GOOGLE   The entire expanse of the Internet, going well beyond what you surf every day, is only the tip of a massive iceberg, the size of which is too vast to be known. Far beyond searching the Web with Google or chatting with friends on Facebook, there’s a dense maze of websites that exist out of view, though for how long that will be true is unclear. When most users log on to the Internet, they visit their bookmarked pages or use Google to search for sites that can provide the information they’re looking for. That Internet, used by billions around the world every day, is sometimes known as the  Surface Web , or the Clearnet, as coined by Tor and other anonymous online users. The Deep Web, simply put, is everything else. It’s made up of tens of billions of sites that are hidden within a universe of code — various estimates have put the Deep Web at anywhere from five to 500,000 times the size of the Surface Web.
Read more