One of the popular investment vehicle in Iran is “crypto investment” and it has been so for a number of years, particularly when the country started to see the imposition of sanctions by international communities. Right now there are more than 12 million Iranians who have been holding multiple cryptocurrencies and their preferred venue of crypto trading is through the local exchanges.
Though regulatory framework is still absent in Iran, yet crypto investment is one of the most preferred investment vehicle in the country. As of 30th October, 2021, there have been more than 12 million crypto owners in Iran, says CEO of a local crypto exchange.
Hamed Mirzaei, who is the CEO at Bitestan, said that a large number of Iranians are crypto investors. He also made a claim that most of these Iranian crypto investors prefer doing crypto business with the local crypto trading platforms. He explained that there are two major reasons for such a huge number of crypto owners in Iran.
The first reason is the imposition of US led sanctions that have been put upon the country. He said that because of the sanctions, Iran has had to develop interest in cryptocurrencies and therefore sanctioned crypto mining. By doing so, the country also encouraged local investors to set up crypto trading platforms.
The second reason Mirzaei explained is the one linked with the crypto boom. He said that Iranian investors have a tendency to monitor what is happening in the digital currency market. Because of this tendency, they were amongst the most well-informed people with regard to crypto. So after determining and acknowledging crypto to be a sound investment vehicle, many of them initiated series of investments into crypto. Therefore, there is an average of 30-50 trillion Iranian Rial worth of crypto transactions on daily basis in Iran, claims Mirzaei.
However, Mirzaei acknowledged the fact that there is no apparently crypto regulatory framework in Iran. So one cannot avoid the possibility that crypto investors’ money is exposed to potential risk. But he suggested that this is quite normal in Iran as it is usual in other countries as well. Even where there are regulations, scams and frauds are normal things and happen occasionally. In fact the entire set up of crypto is risky but considering the profits one can make, it is worth taking the risk, opined Mirzaei.
According to Mirzaei, the good thing about Iranians and their crypto industry is that majority relies on local crypto trading platforms. He claimed that approximately 90% of the crypto transactions are carried out through the domestic platforms. In addition, there is hardly any offshore crypto investment from the majority of Iranians. However, he opined that they need regulations of the kind which take into account interests of the investors and the local digital asset industry.
