Iran authorizes use of cryptocurrency for imports payment(bitcoinmagazine.com)
bitcoinmagazine.com
Iran authorizes use of cryptocurrency for imports payment
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/iran-using-cryptocurrency-for-imports
44 comments
Many countries (China, Russia, Iran, etc...) have a giant incentive to escape SWIFT and US-centric control over value transfer.
Well, the good news on that front is that most international money transfers use the IBAN system rather than swift, and IBAN is run by a consortium of EU banks.
Well, the good news on that front is that most international money transfers use the IBAN system rather than swift, and IBAN is run by a consortium of EU banks.
> most international money transfers use the IBAN system
Source?
And while it may be the case by number of transactions, I'd be very surprised if that was true by volume.
Source?
And while it may be the case by number of transactions, I'd be very surprised if that was true by volume.
What would they use other than IBAN/swift??
Edit; I think your parent comment is confusing concepts. IBAN is international bank account number. You enter an Iban as the target address for your swift transfer. I wasn't aware of a different system that also uses IBAN ... is there one?
Edit; I think your parent comment is confusing concepts. IBAN is international bank account number. You enter an Iban as the target address for your swift transfer. I wasn't aware of a different system that also uses IBAN ... is there one?
IBAN are a European thing.
When you wire money from e.g. Europe to the US, they don't speak IBAN, you have to specify US-centric bank account designations.
When you wire money from e.g. Europe to the US, they don't speak IBAN, you have to specify US-centric bank account designations.
China is working on digital yuan. It is currently undergoing field testing.
> Many countries (China, Russia, Iran, etc...) have a giant incentive to escape SWIFT and US-centric control over value transfer.
While this is true, they also are petrified of something they themselves don't have authority over. I don't think the hesitance is surprising, these are governments that are obsessed with controlling most aspects of their citizens lives.
While this is true, they also are petrified of something they themselves don't have authority over. I don't think the hesitance is surprising, these are governments that are obsessed with controlling most aspects of their citizens lives.
> Why re-invent the wheel, when a system already exists for doing just that?
They don't even want to use that system. They want to create yet another that is state-controlled.
They don't even want to use that system. They want to create yet another that is state-controlled.
Yeah, I hear you, but there's a built-in contradiction in there: if you want to trade with other countries, this whole "state-controlled" business doesn't work too well.
The US are only in this controlling situation because of a historical accident (WWII).
If they hope to establish non US-controlled ways of exchanging value, I suspect they'll have to relinquish some amount of control, unless - of course - China becomes much more preponderant both economically and militarily.
The US are only in this controlling situation because of a historical accident (WWII).
If they hope to establish non US-controlled ways of exchanging value, I suspect they'll have to relinquish some amount of control, unless - of course - China becomes much more preponderant both economically and militarily.
Bitcoin and permission-less currencies are bad news for countries like Russia and Iran. These countries can already transact through designated individuals and off-shore companies. Crypto still need an off-on ramp to traditional finance.
On the other hand, these nation states would use cryto if they were technical and knowledgeable enough of the intricacies of such market. Venezuela already launched its own crypto-currency (the Petrodollar) which was a complete flop. You'd think that a nation state with all its resources, people, sovereignty and army would be able to make a cryptocurrency (probably an Ethereum fork) work. Well, it's simple: They can't.
Most countries today rely on a system they barely understand how it works. They collect taxes, print money and try to export/import stuff. The whole system is glued together by a nation that somehow appeared before, during or shortly after the second world war. Their answer to instability in markets is almost always restrictions (either in money transfers, or blocking imports, or arbitrarily confiscating wealth).
These systems have barely evolved especially in less developed countries, and even in first class countries are still quite archaic. It doesn't help that these system do not have knowledgeable people about these technologies who could help shape policy, recognize trends or act.
The only reason these countries still have semi-functioning finances is that a large portion of the population never heard, or have the technical capabilities to deal with crypto. The newer generation is going to force a re-draw of nation states and probably bankrupt some governments in the process (it's already starting to happen).
On the other hand, these nation states would use cryto if they were technical and knowledgeable enough of the intricacies of such market. Venezuela already launched its own crypto-currency (the Petrodollar) which was a complete flop. You'd think that a nation state with all its resources, people, sovereignty and army would be able to make a cryptocurrency (probably an Ethereum fork) work. Well, it's simple: They can't.
Most countries today rely on a system they barely understand how it works. They collect taxes, print money and try to export/import stuff. The whole system is glued together by a nation that somehow appeared before, during or shortly after the second world war. Their answer to instability in markets is almost always restrictions (either in money transfers, or blocking imports, or arbitrarily confiscating wealth).
These systems have barely evolved especially in less developed countries, and even in first class countries are still quite archaic. It doesn't help that these system do not have knowledgeable people about these technologies who could help shape policy, recognize trends or act.
The only reason these countries still have semi-functioning finances is that a large portion of the population never heard, or have the technical capabilities to deal with crypto. The newer generation is going to force a re-draw of nation states and probably bankrupt some governments in the process (it's already starting to happen).
As someone who thinks US sanctions are unfair and counterproductive I support this.
Hmm use of cryptocurrency to escape sanctions , wasn't this one of the drivers behind the creation of cryptocurrency?
>wasn't this one of the drivers behind the creation of cryptocurrency?
Nope.
Excerpt from genesis [1]:
Nope.
Excerpt from genesis [1]:
00000080 01 04 45 54 68 65 20 54 69 6D 65 73 20 30 33 2F ..EThe Times 03/
00000090 4A 61 6E 2F 32 30 30 39 20 43 68 61 6E 63 65 6C Jan/2009 Chancel
000000A0 6C 6F 72 20 6F 6E 20 62 72 69 6E 6B 20 6F 66 20 lor on brink of
000000B0 73 65 63 6F 6E 64 20 62 61 69 6C 6F 75 74 20 66 second bailout f
000000C0 6F 72 20 62 61 6E 6B 73 FF FF FF FF 01 00 F2 05 or banksÿÿÿÿ..ò.
At this point, isn't Bitcoin a national security threat to the USA?
The value of the coins mined in Iran is directly tied to the current spot price of Bitcoin.
Isn't in the USA's interest now to ban the exchange of Proof of Work coins in the USA? Which will subsequently crash the price and weaken Iran.
The value of the coins mined in Iran is directly tied to the current spot price of Bitcoin.
Isn't in the USA's interest now to ban the exchange of Proof of Work coins in the USA? Which will subsequently crash the price and weaken Iran.
I don't think this news is correct. I was unable to find any official corroborating info about this.
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> Due to the high price of electricity and gas for the extraction of cryptocurrencies in Iran, the result of changing this decree will be the reduction of bitcoin production in Iran, because no miner is interested in providing his bitcoin to the government,” Omid Alavi, a CEO of an approved bitcoin mining farm in Iran, told Bitcoin Magazine at the time.
So it‘s more like "Iran nationalizes Bitcoin mines“?
So it‘s more like "Iran nationalizes Bitcoin mines“?
Bitcoin is becoming the base layer of global finance faster than anyone could have imagined just a year ago.
I don't think it'll ever happen. The global banking system has and will enjoy a favored legitimacy status with governments that they would have to willingly give up. Even though Crypto is decentralized, it's the tributaries into the classic financial system that give it it's value and if governments start putting up blockades, it's value and use will plummet. They just need a good reason to and I can't think of a better one than an oppressive pariah state like NK or Iran circumventing sanctions with it.
Bitcoin adoption from the grassroots level will kill systems with "favored status", especially in places that claim to be free societies.
Right now in the US adoption is happening on the city/state level and expanding outwards, this is not a fluke.
Right now in the US adoption is happening on the city/state level and expanding outwards, this is not a fluke.
They are going to have to figure out how to spend all that cryptocoins as well, which I think will be the more difficult part.
> They are going to have to figure out how to spend all that cryptocoins
Not if they find an exchange - say in China - willing to exchange that coin for local currency and let them purchase goods with said local currency.
Not as hard as you might believe, especially at a sovereign nation level.
Not if they find an exchange - say in China - willing to exchange that coin for local currency and let them purchase goods with said local currency.
Not as hard as you might believe, especially at a sovereign nation level.
Bitcoin... where adoption by pariah states (this article) and criminals (elsewhere) is presented as good news
I don't think labelling Iran a 'pariah state' is helpful. It was the United States that unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, that tacitly accepts Israel's repeated assassination of Iranian scientists, and that launched a catastrophic invasion of its neighbour on a lie. Not to mention, during the Cold War, that it assisted Saddam's war of aggression against Iran, shot down an Irania commercial airliner, and overthrew Iran's democratically elected government and imposed a pliant autocratic in its stead.
Which isn't to say this absolves Iran of its oppression of internal opposition or funding of terrorists. But there is no Manichean opposition, and the United States' belligerence has tended to strengthen the conservative hardliners inside of Iran, at the expense of those who want to normalise relations and shift the balance of power in the country's theocratic-democratic structure towards the latter.
Which isn't to say this absolves Iran of its oppression of internal opposition or funding of terrorists. But there is no Manichean opposition, and the United States' belligerence has tended to strengthen the conservative hardliners inside of Iran, at the expense of those who want to normalise relations and shift the balance of power in the country's theocratic-democratic structure towards the latter.
There is a technical argument for it. Iran has been savagely bullied by the States for many years and the rest of the world is largely playing along because ... well better Iran than them. So in that sense, Iran is a pariah.
But it is grossly unfair, anyone who enthusiastically supports as-implemented US Middle Eastern policy is worse than irredeemable. If Bitcoin pushes back against that policy then I'll shelve what doubts I have about crypto because it would be helping in one of the world's real problems.
But it is grossly unfair, anyone who enthusiastically supports as-implemented US Middle Eastern policy is worse than irredeemable. If Bitcoin pushes back against that policy then I'll shelve what doubts I have about crypto because it would be helping in one of the world's real problems.
Pariah means outcast, which is an accurate description of Iran's current situation in global affairs.
edit: werd
edit: werd
The Iran of today is a pariah state. The leader of the Iranian Basij volunteer force, made the declaration that “Wiping Israel off the map is not up for negotiation.” and this has become the de facto policy of its leadership. The central question here is why does Iran need nuclear arms capability at all? If they backed off on their aggressiveness, who would be a threat to them? Iraq was in the 80s, but now certainly not the Israelis or Arabs. Iran has massive hydrocarbon resources to finance any level of wealth desired. They don’t need economic aid, but they choose to behave as a pariah in their neighborhood, and are sanctioned by most of the rest of the world. So yes calling them a 'pariah state' is 100% absolutely accurate and helpful because I think it’s just a matter of time before their relatively young population wakes up realizes it and throws the bums out. As their maniacal leadership keeps squirming to get around the sanctions; they keep screwing their population, which is highly educated, and realize they are suffering for the sins of the theocratic leadership. I really think the best outcome for this is an internal uprising, before the Israelis - and their new Arab friends - decide to take care of the problem.
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Oh, come on, y'all know there are just bad guys and good guys, right?
I mean that's what TV tells you every day of the week.
And when it's not enough, politicians at the highest level do the same thing.
How dare you make things complicated!
/s
I mean that's what TV tells you every day of the week.
And when it's not enough, politicians at the highest level do the same thing.
How dare you make things complicated!
/s
Pariah state... Oh you mean because it's the one that had a foreign power overthrow its democratically elected leader, replacing them with a despot...
...right yeah I getcha... their desire to bypass the financial system put in place by that very same foreign power must have absolutely no moral standing whatsover, especially since their democracy was ruined.
...right yeah I getcha... their desire to bypass the financial system put in place by that very same foreign power must have absolutely no moral standing whatsover, especially since their democracy was ruined.
Many, if not most, of threats to the Western countries are directly or indirectly consequences of US foreign policy.
'Extended meaning "social outcast" is attested by 1819.' ... I think we can agree that Iran fits that description, no matter your take on the events of 1979 and thereafter
Or he references stuff like 'you get hanged on a carcrain for certain things'
It’s funny how quick countries are labeled pariah states. Seems like they are always countries which the US and/or Israel disagree with. In the end it’s all propaganda, so I wonder why would individuals on the internet partake?
The article just presents it as news.
Not every article or comment needs a long winded disclaimer on how they feel about a topic just so they don't get cancelled. I know thats a foreign concept to some people.
Not every article or comment needs a long winded disclaimer on how they feel about a topic just so they don't get cancelled. I know thats a foreign concept to some people.
Criminals don't like bitcoin, because it's money that they cannot counterfeit.
Ah the 50 states and the government you mean? ;-)
The internet...where adoption by pariah states and criminals is presented as good news. Lets shut it down.
I don't think anyone disagrees that pariah states and criminals use the internet, but I don't see that touted as a good thing particularly often either... presumably because there are actual use cases for using the internet outside of these 2, and hence the use by pariah states and criminals is seen as an acceptable drawback of the technology.
It can only use bitcoin "that has been mined by officially sanctioned miners to pay for imports"
Seems pretty easy to sanction Iran, just ban the use of those same coins. I am assuming "sanctioned" means mined by Iranians.
This also gets in the way of the fungibility argument that is supposed to be in Bitcoins advantage.
> Seems pretty easy to sanction Iran, just ban the use of those same coins.
Seems pretty easy for Iran to unsanction itself, just remove the "official miner" requirement.
Seems pretty easy for Iran to unsanction itself, just remove the "official miner" requirement.
Many countries (China, Russia, Iran, etc...) have a giant incentive to escape SWIFT and US-centric control over value transfer.
IIRC, there has been effort by China an Russia to circumvent the petro-dollar jail. Why re-invent the wheel, when a system already exists for doing just that?
Or maybe nation states know something that everyone else doesn't wrt the actual robustness of crypto against state-sponsored attacks.