Preventing Cross-Border Payments

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Iran Increases Censorship Of Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Iranians Still Find Ways To Trade Crypto
Omar Faridi
Omar Faridi

5 Jul 2018 / 20 views / In #Regulation , #Exchanges
The Iranian government has reportedly increased its censorship of cryptocurrency exchanges, due to concerns over their use in the flight of capital from a country crippled by US-led sanctions.
Anonymous local crypto traders report that Iran’s government is attempting to restrict access to cryptocurrency exchanges, but people have still found ways to trade and purchase digital currencies.

An anonymous Bitcoin supporter from Iran recently revealed that every cryptocurrency exchange in the country has been “filtered since May.” The crypto advocate was referring to the recent decision by the Iranian government to censor information related to the cryptocurrency market, which has come just before the expected renewal of internationally imposed sanctions on Iran next month.

A number of Iranian residents have reported experiencing difficulty while trying to access cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitcoins, and Blockchain. This, despite the residents reportedly using a VPN service or other ways of bypassing the Iranian government’s censorship of the internet.

An experienced cryptocurrency user in Iran revealed that a lot of people in the rogue state are buying Bitcoin (BTC) in order to use it “as a hedge instrument.” The country’s bitcoin users claim that it’s easier to obtain the cryptocurrency compared to trying to buy US dollars through “the black market.” Due to rising inflation, with the current inflation rate reaching 127 percent, along with political instability, many Iranians are reportedly not too concerned with bitcoin’s volatility.

Preventing Cross-Border Payments
Ahmad Khalid Majidyar, the head of IranObserved Project at the Middle East Institute, stated that the Iranian government’s leaders do not want the country’s citizens to send money abroad, particularly US dollars. The Middle East Institute is an established Washington-based organization that serves as a think tank and provides non-partisan political analysis. Majidyar added that more government restrictions might soon follow and that they could also affect Iran’s crypto economy.

The Iranian government is currently struggling to deal with the nation’s economic turmoil, which experts attribute mainly to the crippling US-led sanctions. Authorities in Iran have also placed tight controls on cryptocurrencies in an effort to prevent the flight of capital from the isolated nation. This is presumably in response to stop many of Iran’s residents who might be using digital currencies for international money transfer.