Iran looking to pilot a central bank digital currency

Iran joins a host of countries seeking to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) due to severe financial strain caused by economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

A report published by the Iranian Labour News Agency said Mehran Moharamian, the CBI vice Governor for IT Affairs, believes cryptocurrencies are a solution for decentralising resources, and adoption globally would see many countries benefit from it.

Iran was among the first countries to legalise Bitcoin mining as a way to alleviate the financial burdens the country faced but were forced to shut down operations numerous times due to constant power outages.

The nation issued 1,000 cryptocurrency mining licenses in 2020 following news that Chinese miners fled Iran due to tension with the US over the assassination of a top Iranian official as well as an Iranian attack on an American military base.

Who is introducing CBDCs?

CBDCs have no doubt caught the attention of many countries around the world with nearly 100 nations working on a sovereign digital currency with a few set to launch its pilot program this year.

China is ahead of the pack with plans to release a ‘e-CNY’ digital currency by February and having already released a digital yuan wallet, which reached 16 million downloads in just its first week of availability.

Kazakhstan and Russia will both look to release a pilot testing of their respective CBDCs in early 2022 with the former to decide whether to fully launch its CBDC by the end of 2022.