Muslim cryptocurrency proposed by Iranian president

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pushed for the creation of a Muslim cryptocurrency to lessen the Muslim world’s reliance on the US dollar. He likewise urged deeper trade and financial cooperation between Muslim countries to resist U.S. economic dominance.

President Rouhani put forth the idea of creating Muslim cryptocurrency as he spoke at the opening ceremony of an Islamic conference held in Malaysia, according to U.S.News. The three-day event is attended by leaders from Muslim countries such as Qatar, Turkey, host Malaysia.

“The Muslim world should be designing measures to save themselves from the domination of the United States dollar and the American financial regime,” President Hassan Rouhani said during the Kuala Lumpur Summit on Thursday, Coindesk reported.

The Iranian president asserted that the U.S. has been using economic sanctions as “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” other countries, including Iran. The nation has been subjected to sanctions by the U.S. after Washington pulled out from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Anti-government protests started last month due to the sharp price increase of gasoline as a result of the sanctions. As many as 304 people were killed in the violent protests while Amnesty International said that a lot more were arrested.

The sanctions also affected how Iran’s financial institutions make overseas investments overseas because the US dollar is the most commonly used currency in international deals. To counter this limitation, Iran has been eyeing the use of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin as a means to go around the sanctions.

Cryptocurrency is also one of the most popular assets that Iranians invest in based on a survey by Gate Trade last September. Over a third of 1,650 investors who participated in the survey earned between $500 and $3,000 by crypto mining while more than a half stated that the earned profits via crypto trading.

Aside from proposing a common cryptocurrency for Muslim countries, Rouhani also suggested the use of local currencies for trades between Muslim countries. In this manner, they can decrease reliance on the greenback and lessen the effects of market fluctuations.

The Iranian president also stated that the effect of the U.S. sanction on his country is now limited. The country’s economy is back on track as the country has lessened its reliance on oil exports.