Saad Ullah
Illicit Finance Act
A bill titled Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Actwas introduced by Mike Gallagher. A very similar billwas also put up by Senator Ted Cruz in the Senate. Both bills call for efforts to stop individuals and groups who are helping Iran with services and funding and “technological support, used in connection with the development of Iranian digital currency.”
After the latest sanction on the Islamic republic by the Trump Administration and pull out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has been hit hard. Iran has been essentially cut off from the rest of the financial world as SWIFT network has stopped all transactions in and out from Iran.
Withdrawing from the JCPOA was only the first step in ratcheting up pressure on the Iranian regime” saidGallagher, “We now have an important window to impose maximum economic pressure and degrade the Iranian regime’s ability to export violence across the region. This legislation does exactly that by effectively cutting Iran off from the international financial community.
Iran and Cryptos
With different sanctions mounting, Iran has turned towards the uncensored cryptocurrency to continue its financial services. Apart from developing its own cryptocurrency, the country is fast becoming a hotbed for crypto mining operations in the bearish market. While many mining farms have shut down their operations due to the falling prices of cryptos, mining in the Islamic republic continues to be profitable due to the heavy subsidies given to the citizens.
The traditional financial cut off has also forced many out of country Iranians to use cryptocurrencies to send and receive money from their homeland.
Iran has high hopes for its own cryptocurrency and is modelling it after Venezuela’s Petro.
Saad Ullah
