Iran is considering the development of its own cryptocurrency, following in the footsteps of Venezuela. Both countries are the focus of U.S. sanctions.
Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, minister of Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, tweeted early Wednesday New York time that state-run Post Bank is working on developing a cryptocurrency.
“In a meeting with the board of directors of Post Bank on digital currencies based on the blockchain, I … prescribed … measures to implement the country’s first cloud-based digital currency,” Jahromi said, according to a rough Bing translation.
The Iran Front Page news site also reported the statement Wednesday, and added that the Central Bank of Iran is cooperating with other institutions to control digital currencies in Iran.
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro said late Tuesday that the country’s oil-backed “petro” cryptocurrency has raised the equivalent of more than $735 million.
