Iran’s Central Bank Official Says Cryptocurrency Does Not Contribute to Bypassing Sanctions

An official from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has claimed that cryptocurrencies do not play a significant role in Iran’s sanctions-affected economy. According to Mohammadreza Mani Yekta, deputy director of the CBI’s office responsible for payment systems, “research” shows that digital currencies “have not made any contribution to circumventing sanctions.”

An Iranian official’s negative comments about cryptocurrencies appear to contradict a 2018 report by the Majlis Research Center, which urged the use of digital currencies to circumvent U.S. sanctions. According to an Iranian publication, citing Yekta, the country recently recognized the “legality” of cryptocurrency mining and has plans to “propose new and effective cryptocurrency measures to serve national interests.”
Meanwhile, Yekta’s comments appear to follow earlier remarks by another Iranian official, Ali Tazreji, urging “the Ministry of Public Utilities and Industry to work more closely with the judiciary to help curb illegal crypto mining and crypto mining-related violations.”
Meanwhile, the same publication also quoted Yekta as dissuading Iranians from investing in cryptocurrencies. The CBI official said:
“People must be aware of the risks associated with putting their money into crypto assets… Crypto prices are highly volatile, there is no supervisory body at all to control the market, and investors are likely to incur huge losses.”
According to the report, Yekta’s comments were apparently prompted by the Bitcoin bull run. On Dec. 27, the dominant cryptocurrency hit an all-time high just under $28,400. Lastly, Yekta added that the government is working on amending regulations to “incorporate penalties for unauthorized mining and trading of cryptocurrencies.”

Source: News.bitcoin.com