Iranian Lawmakers to Discuss Bitcoin

EghtesadOnline: Majlis Economic Commission is to hold a top-level multilateral meeting to discuss the fast-growing cryptocurrency Bitcoin in the coming days, the head of the parliamentary commission said.

News ID: ۷۴۴۵۷۳

19 December 2017

“It has been decided to hold a meeting with the officials of the Central Bank of Iran, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Securities and Exchange Organization on Bitcoin next week,” Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi also told ICANA, the official news portal of the parliament.

The official, who sounded pessimistic about the cryptocurrency that has had a highly eventful year, advocated caution.

“Deals and transactions made through Bitcoin are in no way in accordance with Islamic and economic fundamentals, therefore related entities, especially the central bank, must exert the necessary supervision over these deals,” Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.

The head of the commission reflected the warning issued by CBI’s deputy for innovative technologies, Nasser Hakimi, a few weeks ago and called on people and traders using the currency to exercise more caution.

Pour-Ebrahimi referred to the lack of clear and transparent regulations surrounding the virtual currency and noted that “our request to the people is that they remain more careful in this regard so that they do not encounter serious problems in the future”.

Bitcoin is gaining more credibility, as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has started offering its futures and allowing investors to wager whether they think it will rise or fall in value in the months ahead after seeing it surge around 2,000% this year.

After the launch at the exchange, Bitcoin initially rose to yet another record of close to $20,000 before slightly regressing toward $18,800, with the coming months promising to prove just as exciting for the cryptocurrency that is increasingly becoming a household name.