15 May 2021
Central Bank of I.R. Iran (PR department) - CBI Governor announced a primary version of Iranian Digital Rial has already been developed.
“There has been lots of discussions among the world's scholars and central bankers about national crypto money and its interrelation with cryptocurrencies. Particularly many researches has been conducted about cryptocurrencies regulations and their impact on monetary and forex policies.” Hemmati wrote in an Instagram statement.
CBI Governor added: “Central bank of Islamic Republic of Iran has a clear responsibility by the law to maintain value of our national currency and regulate every forms of monetary transactions within our economic structure. Introduction of national crypto-money will positively impact the economy. Managing the money flow, Internationalization of Rial, and even remodeling the structure of monetary-system are among the matters that will be affected; therefore, the CBI visited this matter thoroughly and analyzed different aspect of dealing with the phenomenon.”
Earlier this year, Hemmati announced that the CBI has already finished drafting the executive plan to issue Iranian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and it is being debated in a special expert committee. “Soon after its approval and completion, there will be a step by step implementation strategy and a pilot launch program.” Hemmati continued.
Describing the upcoming CBDC, Hemmati said: “Digital Rial will be in form of a stable crypto currency and its value will be anchored to existing traditional paper Rial. The main difference is that its application environment will change.”
According to Iran top central Banker, Digital Rial will not be minable and although a similar technology will be utilized to issue Digital Rial, it will not be the same as other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.