Iran Supposedly Aims to Legalize Cryptocurrencies

According to Fars News, Iran plans to legalize cryptocurrencies, as its Parliament has allegedly set up a crypto-related working group.

This decision comes after the country has officially banned cryptocurrencies earlier this year and even started to suppress crypto exchanges within the country.

“The final decision has not been made yet, but a working group in the Majlis Social Commission is studying it to establish online exchanges for virtual currencies, mining of virtual currencies and what currencies will be declared legal,” Abolhassan Firouzabadi, the head of the High Council of Cyberspace, recently declared for the Financial Tribune publication.

Abolhassan Firouzabadi attended a recent meeting set in place by President Hassan Rouhani to discuss the effects and possible positions of cryptocurrencies in Iran’s current national economy. The meeting also touched on the possible plans of launching Iran’s own national, oil-backed cryptocurrency, just like Venezuela’s Petro. As expected, the meeting also included talks about cryptocurrencies in general, possibly with a focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Iran left with little options, as US sanctions are to be reinstated

Not a lot of specific details about the meeting have been made public, but it’s no wonder that Iran is recently taking cryptocurrencies more and more seriously. These are difficult times for the country as new US sanctions are to be reinstated this month. Because cryptocurrencies run on their own network and they don’t require a central authority to control them, they might just be able to help the country work around the US sanctions.

Not all the aspects are clear, though. For instance, it’s not yet clear if crypto mining will be actually allowed, or if it will be something that the government will be doing itself. There are various speculations in regards to what will the crypto-future bring for Iran, but only time will tell if Iran’s mission is going to be a success story or not.