Page 24 - IRANRptJun18

7.1 Cryptocurrency
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange bans Iranian transactions
Russia and Iran discussing cryptocurrencies to beat sanctions
Bithumb, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will ban trading with Iranians and citizens of 10 other countries in a bid to conform with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) rules, The Korea Times r eported on May 30. T he move is aimed at non-FATF signatories, which includes North Korea, and is likely related to a search of Bithumb’s headquarters conducted by prosecutors in connection with suspicions of tax evasion.
All the countries subject to the ban are on the Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCT) list held by the FATF, an inter-governmental body that combats money laundering. Those on the list are seen as having insufficient money laundering prevention laws.
In a statement, Bithumb sad it would no longer accept new investors and users from the 11 NCCT-blacklisted countries, and would disable existing accounts held by nationals of those nations on June 21.
Iran and Russia are in discussions on trading in cryptocurrencies to avoid using the US dollar, according to Interfax on May 22. Head of the Iranian parliamentary economic commission Mohammad Reza Pourbrahimi said the use of cryptocurrencies is one of the best ways to circumvent using the dollar in trade and avoiding the SWIFT payment system. Part of the Trump administration's sanctions approach to Iran in the wake of the unilateral US withdrawal from the multilateral nuclear deal will involve attempts at frustrating the Iranian government's attempts at buying US dollar banknotes. To that end, any foreign traders or investors who want to stay involved with Iran after US sanctions kick in after three to six months might seek to avoid any use of the greenback or international financial system connections to the US to cut their own exposure to sanctions.
Reza Pourbrahimi made the comments following a meeting with Dmitry Mezentsev, chairman of the Russia-China Friendship Group, and Russian government officials. "The important issue of using cryptocurrencies gas beeb raused for the past year or two, it is one of the good ways to bypass the use of the dollar," he said, adding: "As for the SWIFT system, we have ordered the Central Bank in Iran to start developing proposals for using cryptocurrency." “They [the Russians] share our opinion; we said that if we manage to promote
24 IRAN Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com