Page 40 - IRANRptJul22

7.1 Cryptocurrency
Iran to hold international conference on metaverse
Iran, Azerbaijan to cooperate in blockchain
The first Iranian international conference on the metaverse, “Metarad”, is to be held on June 20 in Tehran, IRNA reported on June 1, citing the head of the Iran Labour Centre (ILC).
Iran is widely viewed as extremely advanced in metaverse development. Large contingents of Iranians work in the sector, using cryptocurrencies to earn an income from it, thus dodging US sanctions.
The metaverse is an iteration of the internet as a single, universal and immersive virtual world facilitated with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR), multisensory extended reality and simulated reality. It is made up of 3D virtual worlds.
ILC director Saeed Samiei was reported as saying: “A first specialised and international scientific conference on metadata - the digital economy, value code, money code, the metaverse and blockchain - will be held on June 20 in Tehran.
"Due to the successful holding of a first Metarad exhibition event at the Tehran International Exhibition Centre, it was decided to hold the first Metarad International Conference."
Noting that the chairman of the policy council for the event, Asghar Jahangir, is deputy minister of social affairs and crime prevention, Samiei added: "The holding of specialised scientific panels with reputable scientific and executive organisations, institutions and institutes will be one of the main features of this international event."
Iran and Azerbaijan are set to cooperate in blockchain technology, Ali Zanjani, CEO of Iran's Blockchain House, told APA on May 30.
Iran has become a leading nation in developing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in part to dodge US sanctions that target Iranian financial transactions.
Zanjani was reported as saying there were great opportunities for cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in digital currencies and blockchain.
He reportedly said: "The two countries can conduct training and buying and selling in the field of blockchain. Iran is already cooperating with Georgia and other countries in the field of digital currencies and blockchain."
He added: "Iran can organise training with Azerbaijan in this area. It is possible to organise joint classes at universities."
Blockchain is a continuous sequential chain of blocks built according to certain rules containing information (a list of blocks securely linked using cryptography). The connection between the blocks is provided not only by numbering, but also by the fact that each block contains its own cryptographic hash sum and the hash sum of the previous block as well as a timestamp and transaction data. Changing any information in a block will change its hash sum. To comply with the rules for building a chain, changes in the hash sum need to be written to the next block, which causes changes to its hash sum.
The primary use of a blockchain is as a distributed ledger for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
40 IRAN Country Report July 2022 www.intellinews.com