As per reports, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is planning to launch its national digital crypto pilot soon.
A recent news piece published by the Iranian Labour News Agency highlighted that the CBI vice-governor stated that CBDCs could help the country iron out financial inconsistencies.
CBI vice Governor for IT Affairs Mehran Moharamian said the bank sees cryptocurrencies as a solution for resolving inconsistencies and decentralizing resources, something that many countries have started to benefit from recently.
The CBDC development started in Iran back in 2018 at the Informatics Services Corporation, the executive arm of the CBI. The development phase has reportedly been completed and a pilot will be launched soon.
The CBI, however, did not reveal other details about the time frame nor did it roll out a roadmap. The Iranian sovereign crypto has been designed using the Hyperledger Fabric platform hosted by the Linux foundation.
It is a known fact that Iran has experienced financial and economic difficulties owing to the economic sanctions levied on it by the US. And perhaps, this was one of the main reasons why Iran was among the first countries to legalize BTC mining in hopes of reviving the economy.
However, power remains to be one of the few hurdles in the Iranian crypto path. The country has banned Bitcoin mining several times due to power shortages and frequent blackouts.
Crypto payments for Int’l trade
Apart from the CBDC pilot rollout, Iran is also looking to unlock opportunities for importers and exporters to use crypto in international trades post the agreement between the CBI and the Ministry of Trade. As per the Mehr News Agency, Alireza Peyman-Pak, Iran’s deputy minister of Industry, Mine and Trade and head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization asserted that the new payment mechanism is expected to be finalized soon. He said,
“We are finalizing a mechanism for operations of the system. This should provide new opportunities for importers and exporters to use cryptocurrencies in their international deals.”