Authored by Adrian Zmudzinski via CoinTelegraph.com,
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.
image courtesy of CoinTelegraph
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 initially released, according to the article.
As Cointelegraph recently reported, Iran is allegedly negotiating with Switzerland, South Africa, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, Germany and Bosnia to carry out financial transactions in cryptocurrency.
Recently, rumors spread that Iran could unveil its state-backed cryptocurrency at the Electronic Banking and Payment Systems conference that took place last week in Tehran, but the announcement has not been made as of press time. In July 2018, it was reported that the country confirmed that it will create its own state-issued cryptocurrency to circumvent United Statessanctions.
At the end of this January, Iranian lawmakers noted that they would seek to introduce legislation to block the use of crypto for payments inside the country and keep citizens from having significant holdings.
In December last year, Cointelegraph reported that Alireza Daliri, deputy for management development and resources at the vice presidency for science and technology, said that blockchaincan help improve the country’s national economy.
image courtesy of CoinTelegraph
In a similar move, Venezuela launched its oil-backed cryptocurrency, Petro, in October of last year. However, it is unclear which exchanges the coin is currently trading on, and critics have pointed outthat the oil-fields that purportedly back Petro show little signs of activity.
Finally, CoinDesk notes that last month saw US lawmakers introduce bills against Iran’s efforts to create a sovereign cryptocurrency.
Portions of the Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.), called for an investigation into Iran’s crypto efforts. A corresponding bill was submitted in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The proposals call for sanctions against those who knowingly provide Iran with funding, services or “technological support, used in connection with the development of Iranian digital currency.”
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2DWlTvw Tyler Durden