chepicap.com
Iran, after weeks of inching towards the announcement, is launching a gold-backed stablecoin called the PayMon (which translates to ‘Covenant’ in Persian), ostensibly to skirt US led sanctions.
According to the Financial Tribune, the Middle Eastern nation is developing the cryptocurrency together with local fintech firm Kuknos. The decision comes less than a week after Al Jazeera reported that Iran had developed cryptocurrency regulations for its internal economy.
Dear @arunjaitley @narendramodi
— Nischal (WazirX) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) January 31, 2019
Iran just lifted the crypto ban! That's great news for the crypto world.
The youth of India wish to see India doing the same soon.
Jai Hind 🇮🇳#IndiaWantsCrypto pic.twitter.com/deZrbtx0sj
The cryptocurrency comes with a combination of a local exchange, as well as a partnership with four Iranian banks, Bank Mellat, Bank Melli Iran, Bank Pasargad, and Parsian Bank. The cryptocurrency is likely aimed at providing an alternative to the SWIFT international transfer platform, which is the means by which countries like the United States have exacted fiscal sanctions.
US Treasury financial crimes arm FinCEN has already warned Iran against ‘illicit’ uses of crypto, presumably meaning the use of digital currency to evade US economic sanctions. It is not clear how successful Iran will be in utilizing PayMon to evade the United States’ directives, possibly a repeat of the relative failure of Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency.
If 2017/18 was the year crypto learned a a lot about the SEC, 2019/20 may be the year it learns a lot about FinCEN and OFAC.
— Palley (@stephendpalley) February 2, 2019
Nonetheless, Iran has reportedly been in talks with at least 8 foreign bodies to develop crypto trading relationships, most notably with Russia, who also faces US-backed SWIFT sanctions.