The country’s central bank announced the successful completion of the pre-trial phase of the project to introduce the digital Iranian rial. Tehran authorities plan to expand the use of this homegrown currency and integrate it into Iran’s payment system.
Iranian Government Prepares Digital Currency Trial
The head of the payment systems supervision department at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) revealed this week that a project to issue a digital version of Iran’s national fiat, also known as the “crypto-real,” is in the trial phase.
Quoted by the regulator’s Monetary and Banking Research Institute (MBRI)Mohammad Reza Mani Yekta, without elaborating, said the pre-trial phase has ended with some success. He was speaking at a conference dedicated to electronic banking and payment systems.
On Monday, the first day of the forum, Mani Yekta also noted that more than 90 central banks are working on projects in the blockchain sector. He noted that Iran’s monetary authority took its first steps in that direction in 2017, mainly in terms of technical measures.
He recalled that the CBI has been working on various issues and studying different aspects of micropayments, including the management of economic issues related to micropayments. He also remarked that the first release of Digital Real will take place in September 2022 and announced the start of the pilot launch of CBDC.
The issued currency was distributed to state and commercial banks that had the necessary infrastructure and were ready to provide relevant services to the public. The official added: “The rules governing the digital real are consistent with the rules for real banknotes.”
In addition to the digital currency, the Central Bank of Iran is considering the possibility of creating a gold-backed stable coin to be used for international payments. The topic is being discussed with officials in Moscow, according to a report in a Russian newspaper earlier this year. Both countries are under sanctions from Western governments.
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