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international trade or even for trade conducted inside Iran remains to be seen.
Peyman (“Covenant” in Persian), unveiled by private company Ghoghnoos Co., is the first non-banking firm in Iran to launch a cryptocurrency. It has done so in conjunction with four banks in the country. Banks Mellat, Melli, Pasargad and Parsian are backing the project. The Iran Fara Bourse (for over-the-counter exchange trading) will be the first trading centre to provide for transactions in the digital currency.
Unusually for a cryptocurrency, there will be no initial currency offering (ICO) for Peyman. Those behind it intend to use the existing resources and excess properties of the supporting banks to raise funds for the currency through token creation.
Valiollah Fatemi, a director of Ghoghnoos, told Iranian media outlets: “The token can function as a wallet and channel [banks’] excess properties into sellable tokens.”
According to the company, one billion units of Peyman will be released by the participating banks and financial technology group TOSAN.
The timing of the announcement of the Peyman cryptocurrency debut came a little less than 24 hours after the Iranian government removed restrictions on trading digital money.
On January 29, an initial 13-page draft on regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in Iran was released by the country’s central bank . The draft reportedly suggests heavy oversight should be exercised by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) while the market develops. “Version 0.0”, as the drafted rules have been dubbed, is meant to bring clarity to the utilisation of the global digital payment method and “allow traders to plan for their future”.
After initially banning the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the CBI now recognises the digital payment method as legitimate. It is also laying the groundwork for a future Iranian digital currency that it intends to launch.
8.4 Stock market
Iran getting set to launch International Energy Bourse on Kish Island
Iran’s government is reviewing regulations and permits for the launching of the International Energy Bourse (IEB) on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, the Financial Tribune has reported, citing M orteza Bank, director of the Supreme Council for the Free Trade Zones of Iran.
Bank told reporters that an initial bylaw for the IEB was written in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Organisation and gained the approval of the High Council of Securities and Exchange. Afterwards, it was sent to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
The international exchange would have the ability and capacity to attract non-Iranian rial financial resources within a framework provided by Iranian authorities on the mainland, he reportedly added.
The IEB would be open to international investors as well as Iranian businesses looking to enter the energy sector via an investment, Bank also said. He hinted that the language of the IEB would be supervised in English at all levels in order to attract foreign investment.
Iran has pushed for more people to enter its energy market since the US introduced heavy sanctions against the country’s oil, gas, petrochemical and
34 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com