The Central Bank of Iran has banned banks under its control from carrying out any transactions with digital currencies. “The use of bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies is prohibited in all financial institutions in the country,” the statement said.
The bank believes that cryptocurrency can become a tool for money laundering and terrorist financing.
The central bank has prohibited “all branches, subsidiaries of banks, credit institutions and exchanges” from selling and purchasing cryptocurrency or in any way promoting cryptocurrency-related activities. Measures provided for by law will be taken against offenders.
The cryptocurrency ban is seen as a measure to strengthen the national currency, the Iranian rial, whose exchange rate hit a record low in April. Previously, Iranian authorities combined official and open market exchange rates and banned changing money outside banks in order to increase the value of the rial.
Meanwhile, the depreciation is explained by fears that the United States will again impose sanctions on the Islamic republic. US President Donald Trump will decide on May 12 whether the US will reimpose economic sanctions on Iran.
At the end of February Iran announced plans to launch a state-backed digital currency to combat the economic crisis in the Islamic Republic and circumvent sanctions USA.
Read also: Bittrex exchange blocked accounts of users from Iran, North Korea, Crimea and Syria
According to http://www.rttnews.com
You May Also Like
What??? Again?! SEC delays decision on Bitcoin ETF
The SEC has deferred a decision on a Bitcoin ETF announced by SolidX Bitcoin and investment firm VanEck. The market was expecting a decision on SolidX Bitcoin Trust shares, scheduled for September 21, but the regulator decided to ask for more feedback on this issue.
The turnover of Turkish crypto exchanges has increased amid the local currency crisis
Coindesk reports a sharp increase in trading volumes on Turkey's cryptocurrency exchanges as the nation's own currency, the Turkish lira, collapsed to a new record low.
