Russia, Europe, Asia interested in Iran cryptomining

A blockchain and cryptocurrency research lab has been set up in Iran, says the head of the company contracted by the Central Bank of Iran to design and develop a national digital currency.

Despite rising interest in cryptocurrencies, Iran has been slow to embrace them, but CEO of Informatics Services Corporation Seyyed Abotaleb Najafi believes they can help expand banking services in the face of marauding US sanctions.

Iran’s central bank has contracted his company to gather information on blockchain and cryptocurreny technologies and establish a research lab, he told a conference on electronic banking and payment systems in Tehran Wednesday.

Blockchain is a digital ledger or database where transactions in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are recorded.

On Tuesday, financial services giant JPMorgan said the most meaningful impact of blockchain will probably be three to five years away and mostly on trade finance.

“Blockchain isn’t going to reinvent the global payment system, but it will provide marginal improvements,” JPMorgan’s chair of global research, Joyce Chang, told Bloomberg.

According to media reports, a state-backed national cryptocurrency backed by the local fiat unit, the rial, has already been developed but it has yet to be approved for use by the central bank.

Head of Iran’s Civil Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali has said cryptocurrencies present “great opportunities” for the country to bypass certain sanctions through untraceable banking operations.

Blockchain and other digital ledgers holding cryptocurrency records process transactions without being controlled by any person or entity.

Najafi said the goal behind using the blockchain is to gain new competitive advantage and create a new platform in existing business models.

“This technology can help reduce costs, improve specific processes, track customer information, increase security, reduce fraud and boost transparency,” he said.

SS