Four banks in the Islamic Republic of Iran have developed a gold-backed cryptocurrency called PayMon, financial news website Financial Tribune reported on Jan. 30. According to the article, the crypto asset has been developed in cooperation with the Parsian Bank, the Bank Pasargad, Bank Melli Iran and Bank Mellat. Iran Fara Bourse, an over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency exchange, will reportedly list the new cryptocurrency. The director of Kuknos, the blockchain company taking care of the technical aspects, said that the new crypto asset is a way to tokenize assets and excess properties of the banks. A billion PayMon tokens will be …

Top Stories This Week SWIFT Reveals Plans to Launch Proof-of-Concept With Blockchain Consortium R3 Major global banking payments network SWIFT announced plans this week to develop a Proof-of-Concept of a gateway that will let blockchain consortium R3 link to GPI (Global Payments Innovation) payments from their platform. According to SWIFT, users of the R3 platform will be able to authorize payments through the new GPI Link, settling GPI payments with the users’ banks, with the credit confirmation reported back to the trade platforms via GPI Link. Crypto Exchange Gemini Completes Security Compliance Review from Deloitte Gemini crypto exchange, which was …

Iran is reportedly negotiating with eight countries to carry out financial transactions in cryptocurrency, local daily newspaper Tehran Times reports on Monday, Jan. 28. According to the article, Iran has already entered negotiations with Switzerland, South Africa, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, Germany and Bosnia, and the countries have reportedly visited Iran to discuss the matter. It was not immediately clear whether the news concerns the national cryptocurrency that Iran is allegedly set to launch vin the near future. However, the article notes that the talks on crypto transactions were held order to circumvent the ongoing United States sanctions …

Iran’s central bank said it would consider opinions from the cryptocurrency sphere prior to finalizing new draft regulations, according to a statement today, Jan. 29. The same day, the Central Bank of Iran reportedly uploaded plans for its approach to cryptocurrency regulation on its official website. The bank said it plans to discuss the rules at the ongoing Electronic Banking and Payment Systems Conference in Tehran, which began today. A report from local news outlet Al Jazeera today noted that lawmakers would seek to ban aspects of cryptocurrency. Specifically, the move would block the use of crypto for payments inside …

Iran could unveil its state-backed cryptocurrency at the Electronic Banking and Payment Systems conference in Tehran this week, local English-language news outlet Al Jazeera reported on Jan. 27. Iran, which has faced fresh sanctions from the United States since November, had previously planned to use blockchain-based financial tools as a way of sidestepping restrictions on its economic growth. Though a central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC), which could be a rial-backed crypto, it was thought Tehran could forge an alternative to SWIFT, the global settlements system that some Iranian banks cannot access. Sources remain unsure whether such a large-scale implementation will …

Top Stories This Week Georgia State Senator Reports to Jail Over Alleged Theft of Crypto Mining Equipment Republican state senator of Georgia has reported to jail in the United States for allegedly lying about the theft of cryptocurrency mining equipment worth around $300,000. State senator Michael Williams had disclosed the theft in May, and is reporting to jail now over his false police reports and statement. Williams had declared that a server that was used to mine unnamed cryptocurrencies had disappeared from his office premises, but last month was indicted by grand jury on three counts. NYSE Operator’s Bakkt Announces …

The Iranian government has taken further steps against Telegram’s cryptocurrency development, the Tehran Times reports Dec. 31. Secretary of the Criminal Content Definition Task Force Javad Javidnia has declared that any cooperation with the encrypted messaging app to launch its Gram token will be considered an act against national security and a disruption to the national economy. Javidnia stated: “One of the most important factors in banning Telegram was a sense of serious economic threat from its activities, which was unfortunately marginalized and neglected due to the fuss in the political atmosphere of the country.” Iran first banned the app …

Andrew Bustamante, reportedly a former CIA intelligence officer, has claimed blockchain is “super powerful stuff” that represents a threat to America’s national security. Bustamante, who specializes in publishing life-hacks based on his knowledge of espionage, made his elliptical remarks in a subreddit thread on Dec. 22. Bustamante is also reportedly a United States Air Force veteran and Fortune 10 corporate advisor. He brought up blockchain in response to a question in a subreddit thread, on news aggregation site Reddit, dedicated to Bustamante’s “Everyday Espionage” — what he dubs an “integrated education and training platform that teaches international espionage tactics to …

United States lawmakers have introduced a bill to levy further sanctions on Iranian financial institutions and the development and use of the national digital currency. HR 7321 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Gallagher on Dec. 17. In a bid to combat money laundering and terrorism-related activities, the “Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Act” calls for sanctions on the Iranian financial sector and on the development and use of the national cryptocurrency. The act specifically prohibits transactions, financing or other dealings related to an Iranian digital currency, and would also introduce sanctions on foreign individuals engaged in …

Iranians are turning to Bitcoin (BTC) mining due to economic difficulties caused by sanctions by the United States, international affairs think tank Atlantic Council reported Dec. 17. Despite the recent crash in crypto markets and fluctuations in the national rial currency caused by recently reinforced U.S. sanctions, Iranian people are still reportedly managing to gain profits from mining Bitcoin. As reported by Atlantic Council, 26-year-old Iranian Ali Hosseini and his cousin Pedram Ghasemi bought a Bitcoin mining device, an Antminer S9, two months ago for $526, when the top cryptocurrency was trading around $6,500. Despite the U.S. dollar reportedly soaring …

An official at the Iranian government’s vice presidency for science and technology has said blockchain can help improve the country’s national economy. His statements were reported by English-language daily newspaper The Tehran Times on Dec. 16. Alireza Daliri, deputy for management development and resources at the vice presidency for science and technology, is quoted as saying that blockchain is one of the new technologies on which Iran should coordinate with international partners, noting that “over 140 countries” are today benefiting from the invention. Daliri is reported to have acknowledged some countries’ concerns over the technology’s possible risks, but stated his …

The former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has characterized Bitcoin (BTC) as “a lottery ticket,” in an article for major United Kingdom daily broadsheet The Guardian Dec. 10. Writing in the midst of the recent crypto market price collapse, current Harvard University Professor of Economics and Public Policy Kenneth Rogoff suggested that the “overwhelming sentiment” among crypto advocates is that the total “market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies could explode over the next five years, rising to $5-10 [trillion].” The historic volatility of the emerging asset class, he conceded, indeed indicates that Bitcoin’s decline from its all-time highs of …