Iran is working on developing a national cryptocurrency which they believe will be good enough to evade US sanctions. The move seems to have been accelerated after Washington, Russia, China, and the EU have come together to limit the chances of the Islamic nation acquiring the US dollar. More to that, the United States has urged its allies to stop buying oil from Iran.

Following the reports from Washington last week, Iran has stepped up its efforts to complete its crypto project. Reports indicate that Iran is working on an indigenous digital currency. President Hassan Rouhani ordered the country’s central bank to meet with relevant authorities to discuss the matter into the formation of the digital currency.

Javad Azari Jahromi, the country’s Information and Communication Technology Minister, is also following the matter very closely. Jahromi has been meeting with the country’s central bank. The Central Bank of Iran is still opposing the project and terms cryptocurrency as illegal in the country. As minister Jahromi noted, “A new attitude that has been created in the government is that the digital money does not necessarily pose a security threat and can create opportunities for the country.”

Post Bank invited all tech companies in the country to be part of the development in order to have a strong digital currency. Digital currencies are one of the ways governments can evade sanctions. Iran sees cryptocurrency having the potential to replace the US dollar in the international market. Jahromi added that the decentralized nature of digital currencies make it border-less. Iran wants to use this ability to trade freely without interference from the United States.

Venezuela’s Plan To Avoid Sanctions

Venezuela was the first country to launch its own digital currency called the Petro. The main aim of Venezuela was to evade US sanctions, just like Iran, as well as trade oil in cryptocurrency. Venezuela is having a hard time dealing with inflation and economic crimes. China on the other hand banned all digital currencies citing money laundering, and illegal use as the main causes. Other countries like South Korea and Japan have opted to regulate the cryptocurrency sector other than banning the young industry.