The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned two Iranians allegedly involved in Bitcoin (BTC) ransomware scheme SamSam, the Treasury reported in an official press release today, Nov. 28. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken action on Wednesday against two Iranian individuals, Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan, who are accused of exchanging Bitcoin into Iranian rials (IRR). This is also the first time that Bitcoin addresses have been publically attributed to “designated individuals” on the OFAC’s sanctions list. According to the report, SamSam ransomware breaks into companies’ computer networks, allowing criminals to take over …

On October 20, The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) deputy governor, Masayoshi Amamiya, repeated his negative stance towards central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDC), claiming that such digital currencies are unlikely to improve the existing monetary systems. The concept of CBDC, or national cryptocurrencies, has attracted many governments across the world. Some of them have already rolled out their virtual currencies, some keep researching their economical impact, while others — like Japan — have decided to dismiss the idea altogether. Here’s what the concept entails, and why major governments choose to implement or deny it. What’s a CBDC? CBDCs, or national digital …

The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is calling on cryptocurrency exchanges to monitor Iranian use of crypto to evade sanctions. The agency requested this in an advisory issued Thursday, Oct. 11. The call comes as part of a wider directive warning of the “systemic” Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) risks Iranian activity poses to the global financial system. According to FinCEN, as of 2013 Iranian use of cryptocurrency includes “at least $3.8 million worth of bitcoin-denominated transactions per year.” Conceding that the use of crypto in the country is “comparatively small,” the document warns that crypto represents …

The highest number of recorded incidents of Coinhive cryptojacking software have taken place in Brazil, Iran’s country’s cybersecurity authority revealed in a report Monday, October 8. According to the Iranian authority’s report on malware in 2017, Brazil, the country with the most reported cases, has been hit over 81,000 times by Coinhive. India came in second with around 29,000, followed by Indonesia with more than 23,000, while Iran scored about 11,000. Coinhive, the cryptocurrency mining software which mines Monero (XMR), provides an Application Programming Interface (API) to developers, which then lets the developer use a website visitors’ CPU resources to …

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme Cyberspace Council revealed that various ministries of the country’s government have accepted crypto mining as an industry, local news agency IBENA reports September 4. According to the report, the Cyberspace Council’s secretary Abolhassan Firoozabadi stressed that the mining of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) has been approved as an industry by major government authorities. However, official legislation forming a legal framework for the industry has yet to be introduced in the country. Firoozabadi said that crypto mining has been accepted as an industry by Iran’s major authorities, including the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, …

Iran’s National Cyberspace Center has revealed that the draft of the state-backed cryptocurrency project is ready, local news outlet Financial Tribune reports August 25. According to the article, the national digital currency project was developed on instructions from President of Iran Hassan Rouhani. Saeed Mahdiyoun, the deputy director in charge of drafting regulations for Iran's Supreme Cyberspace Council, has reportedly revealed to local news agency IBENA that the idea of introducing a national cryptocurrency is being actively pursued by Iran's cyberspace authority. Mahdiyoun also stated that the state authorities will soon remove the existing uncertainty around cryptocurrencies, since the Central …

Iran-based malware that demands a digital ransom in cryptocurrencies is on the rise and will further escalate in the present geopolitical climate, according to a report published by global management consulting firm Accenture on August 7. After two years of analysis, Accenture Security iDefense predicts that emerging trends in the Iranian cyber threat landscape will intensify as the country is forced into a defensive and economically straitened position in the wake of the U.S. exit from the Obama-era Iran nuclear accord this spring. With the US set to imminently to reimpose tough economic sanctions, Accenture has warned that the ransomware …

Iran has confirmed it will press ahead with creating its own state-issued cryptocurrency to circumvent incoming U.S.. sanctions, local media Press TV reported July 25. Quoted by local news media outlet ISNA and translated by PressTV, Alireza Daliri, deputy for management and investment at the Directorate for Scientific and Technological Affairs, said plans for the creation of a working digital currency were already on its agenda. “We are trying to prepare the grounds to use a domestic digital currency in the country,” Daliri told ISNA, continuing: “This currency would facilitate the transfer of money (to and from) anywhere in the …

Arab markets were flooded with new investors in April after an Islamic scholar announced cryptocurrency is halal under Sharia law. The announcement settled contradicting statements issued by several other Islamic experts, but there are still conflicting interpretations of Sharia’s allowance of virtual currencies among Muslim leaders. The mufti’s announcement opened crypto markets to potentially 1.6 billion new customers, but it is certain that Middle Eastern governments will play a central role in the development of the crypto industry in order to ensure individuals and institutions adhere to Sharia law. Sharia law places strict guidelines on economic activity whereby value must …

A major benefit of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is the ability to send funds across the world far quicker than through conventional methods. This allows people to bypass traditional foreign exchanges and international bank transfers, that can takes days or weeks to process the transfer of funds between countries. It also offers a solution to millions of people that live in countries that are affected by international sanctions. The likes of Iran have had to endure the consequences of economic isolation for years, which affects the day to day lives of its citizens. In 2015, Iran had economic sanctions lifted after …

Iran and Russia could start using cryptocurrencies to avoid Western sanctions, Russian news portal RBC reported yesterday, May 17. Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs, referred to cryptocurrencies as a promising way for both countries to avoid US dollar transactions, as well as a possible replacement of the SWIFT interbank payment system. At a meeting with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, Pourebrahimi said that they have “engaged the Central Bank of Iran to start developing proposals for the use of cryptocurrency.” Pourebrahimi added that he discussed …

Iranians are increasingly turning to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in the wake of the US exit from a multilateral nuclear accord with the country this week. The news has plunged the country into economic turmoil, resulting in a surge of interest towards crypto, as Forbes reports Thursday, May 10. Mounting anticipation that the Obama-era accord would collapse has brought Iran to the brink of a national currency crisis, with the Iranian rial losing around a quarter of its value in the past six months. In response, the government has unified its official and open market exchange rates, hiked interest …