SEO Sees Crypto Potential for Energizing Share Market

EghtesadOnline: Iran’s capital market should genuinely consider use of blockchain technology as it can help address some major needs and at the same time create new vistas for reviving the share market, said Majid Eshqi, head of the Securities and Exchange Organization.

News ID: ۷۸۷۶۴۶

18 January 2022

"At the latest in two years we will be compelled to make use of blockchain technology…It will not be long before we start tokenizing physical assets and stocks that can be easily traded on the new platforms," SENA quoted Eshqi as saying.

Now is the time to start the infrastructure process in earnest   "considering blockchain's potential in solving existing issues such as verifying the IDs of shareholders," he stressed.

There are two main approaches to regulating the crypto sector "One considers cryptos as currency units which need to be dealt with by central banks. The other as digital assets and it is here that the capital market can and should act a regulatory and supervisory body."

The SEO chief added: "However, there are still unsolved issues and concerns about the compatibility of the new technology and Islamic financing principles, which need to be addressed by the Fiqh [sharia law] boards of the Central Bank of Iran and SEO."

He called on fintech experts to offer the capital market officials in Tehran views and suggestions for the efficient proper use of blockchain technology.

Eshqi urged the Fiqh committees of the SEO and CBI to support tokenization of assets so that shareholders can benefit from innovative technologies.

In the not distant past the SEO was more inclined towards keeping the entire crypto issue at arm’s length. The former head of the organization, Mohammad Ali Dehqan said last August that the SEO had no plan for allowing the entry of cryptos in the stock market. However, he made it known that “it would look at the issue if the CBI regulates cryptocurrencies.”

In 2019 the government recognized cryptomining as a legal industry. Miners had to apply for a permit from the Ministry of Industries. Trade in crypto is banned even though recently the central bank said banks and licensed moneychangers can use the digital currency mined by authorized miners in Iran to pay for imports.

The sharp increase in cryptocurrency investment in recent months and wild fluctuations in its price prompted officials to announce measures to contain the likely consequences of decline in its value and help shield investors from its speculative swings.

A study conducted by the High Council of Cyberspace recently said total bitcoin trade in Tehran alone is approximately 30-40 trillion rials ($130-174 million).

Another research by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mining said “an estimated 12 million Iranians have invested in digital currencies whose future, at best, remains uncertain.”