Iran Wants to Create Crypto to Confront ‘Economic Hegemony’ of US

Iran’s President has proposed to create a Muslim cryptocurrency as one of a number of means to confront the economic dominance of the United States.

Speaking at an Islamic conference in Malaysia on Dec. 19, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Muslim nations to strengthen financial and trade cooperation and to cut their reliance on U.S. dollar, according to a report by The Associated Press (AP).

New Muslim cryptocurrency to confront “U.S. economic hegemony”

As Rouhani argued that U.S. economic sanctions are the “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” of other nations. Rouhani put forward the establishment of a special banking and financial system among Muslim nations that use local currencies for trade. Local reports confirm that Rouhani proposed the creation of a cryptocurrency as part of the effort.

As reported by the AP, Rouhani said:

“The Muslim world should be designing measures to save themselves from the domination of the United States dollar and the American financial regime.”

Malaysia supports Iranian President’s idea to create an alternative to the U.S. dollar

The conference was also attended by leaders of major Muslim countries including Turkey, Qatar and host Malaysia, while Saudi Arabia and Pakistan withdrew from the conference.

The idea of the Iranian President has reportedly met with support from Malaysia alone to date, as the country’s Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, endorsed the initiative, as reported by local publication Free Malaysia Today. The official noted that this was the first time that Iran and Turkey are considering the opportunity of creating an alternative to the U.S. dollar. He said:

“We can use our own currencies or have a common currency.”

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apparently criticized the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, arguing that the platform that connects the Muslim world together demonstrated a “lack of implementation.” Erdogan also outlined that Muslim countries needed to focus on Islamic financing, suggesting the establishment of a special working group.

Other countries trying to bypass U.S. sanctions with crypto

A number of global jurisdictions have been considering the creation of a cryptocurrency to dodge sanctions by the U.S. to date. As reported by Cointelegraph in late September, authorities in North Korea announced their intention to issue a digital currency, with experts believing that the initiative aims to help the country to bypass sanctions by the U.S..

Meanwhile, Venezuela is apparently one of the most popular examples of countries trying to circumvent U.S. sanctions using their own crypto. Launched in February 2018, the Petro became the world’s first national oil-baked cryptocurrency.