Iran has announced the timing of the launch of digital rial

The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran plans to launch a pilot project of the central bank’s digital currency in one of the regions of the country by the end of August.

The Iranian authorities have been preparing to launch a pilot digital rial project since the beginning of June. The launch is scheduled for August 23rd. According to the head of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Ali Salehabadi (Ali Salehabadi), the state digital currency will be different from other decentralized cryptocurrencies – it is intended solely to replace the banknotes that are currently in circulation.

The head of the CBI clarified that outside the test region, the digital currency will be introduced only in the later stages of the project. The only issuer of the digital rial will be the Iranian treasury, and the coin itself is based on a distributed ledger system (DLT) and can support smart contracts.

The CBDC will be issued in accordance with the regulations governing the issuance of traditional banknotes and will be available exclusively for domestic transactions. The CBI will be responsible for monitoring the financial and economic impact of digital money on the economy and, especially, the impact on monetary policy of the Central Bank itself.

The central bank has previously insisted that the government-issued coin will play a key role in the adoption of digital assets in a country that does not allow payments with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Previously, the CBI announced a ban on the trading and promotion of any digital currencies mined outside the country. Iranian authorities have begun blocking bank accounts for illegal transactions in the sale of foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies, as well as closing mining farms.