The Tehran government is taking steps to prepare for the launch of a new Iranian digital currency called the crypto-real. The Islamic Republic’s monetary authority hopes to launch the pilot phase of the project within the next two months.
Crypto rial to be different from cryptocurrency, central bank announces
Ali Salehabadi, governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), told reporters on Friday that as of the Persian calendar month of Sharibah, which begins on August 23, crypto He said that the bank is taking the necessary steps to begin pilot operations of the real
Quoted by the English-language Iran Front Page News Portal, the top official stressed that Iran’s digital currency will be different from decentralized global cryptocurrencies. He noted that it is only intended to “replace the paper currency currently owned by the people.”
Salehabadi further clarified that the pilot project will initially cover only one region of the country. The crypto-real, which has been under development for some time, will eventually be introduced in other areas of the Islamic Republic at a later, unspecified stage.
In April, the CBI announced that it was preparing for the upcoming launch after informing Iranian banks and other credit institutions about the regulations that would accompany the introduction of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The details of the plan are how the currency will be minted and circulated.
The monetary authority will be the sole issuer of crypto-real and will determine its maximum supply. According to earlier reports, the coin will be based on a distributed ledger system, managed by a licensed financial institution and capable of supporting smart contracts.
Iran’s new currency will be issued under regulations governing the emission of bills and coins and will only be available for domestic transactions; the CBI will be responsible for monitoring the financial and economic impact of digital cash and ensuring that monetary policy is not adversely affected.
The central bank also argued that state-issued coins will play a role in establishing the presence of cryptocurrencies in the country, where payments in Bitcoin and other formats are not allowed. The announcement came as dozens of central banks around the world are considering or have already developed their own CBDCs, and are in the testing phase.
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