Iran and Russia Consider Using Cryptocurrency to Evade US Sanctions

[BlackTortoise + 103]

Iran and Russia could turn to cryptocurrency as a solution to evade Western financial sanctions and reduce their dependence on the US dollar. Iran has been struck by a monetary crisis in recent months after its fiat currency, the rial, plunged to historic lows against the US dollar leading up to US president Trump formally withdrawing from the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. Russia has also seen international sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union and a number of other countries in recent years following Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. These two countries are already taking steps in an effort to circumvent US-dollar- based commerce and escape their dependence on the global interbank system operated by SWIFT. Tehran is suggesting cryptocurrency as a solution in high-level discussions with Moscow while Iran’s Parliamentary Commission of Economic Affairs has already “obliged the Central Bank of Iran to start developing proposals for the use of cryptocurrency.”

Edited May 21, 2018 by BlackTortoise

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

Waiting for the PetroYuan to step up its game, to counterbalance the undue influence of the PetroDollar.

While cryptocurrencies might be useful in bypassing restrictions and international sanctions, I tend to think the incremental, slow-moving financial oil trading tsunami of the PetroYuan is already set into motion irreversibly, and will gradually gain momentum as a viable alternative option to the PetroDollar.

China already started the PetroYuan game, and Russia, Iran, and Venezuela seem ready to play ball with China.  Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to play the spoiler by trying to kick the PetroYuan out of bounds.  Good luck with that, because China is making its own rules and boundaries.  Gonna be an epic game, as countries start choosing teams.

[jose chalhoub + 388]

Russia backed and its continuing to back the Petro in Venezuela and hence its pretty much understandable this move by countries under sanctions like Iran Russia North Korea and Venezuela in this regard, but the concern always remain until what extent this will serve obscure interests of corruption money laundering by the corrupted elites and not to serve the most impoverished people in these countries and how this will influence and impact in these countries's oil transactions for example in the case of Venezuela, which countries are really willing to pay for oil shipments in petros as Maduro ordered? I think state cryptos are still a long way to go before they become feasible and consolidated as a mean of transaction in global markets of oil and gas. 

[msk + 42]

21 hours ago, BlackTortoise said:

 Tehran is suggesting cryptocurrency as a solution in high-level discussions with Moscow while Iran’s Parliamentary Commission of Economic Affairs has already “obliged the Central Bank of Iran to start developing proposals for the use of cryptocurrency.”

It would be awesome if all of these countries and organizations just stopped trying to pretend a state-sponsored crypto is actually going to work when they is already a functioning, globally available, tested alternative with unlimited potential for off-chain development *cough* bitcoin *cough*

The faster these players realize this, the faster we can all move forward to global finance 2.0 and be happier and more successful because of it. 

[Kate Turlington + 44]

or maybe they'll come up with a single crypto, like the one they're trying to spin in the Middle East. 

https://safehaven.com/article/45490/Could-Crypto-Solve-The-Middle-Easts-Currency-Crisis