Central Bank of Iran admits that cryptocurrencies did not help to circumvent sanctions
A spokesman for the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) admitted that digital currencies did not help the country's economy in terms of bypassing sanctions. According to Mohammadrez Mani Yekt, deputy head of the payments systems division of CBI, during the study of the issue, it turned out that cryptocurrencies could not make any significant contribution to the evasion of sanctions
A 2018 report from the Mejlis Research Center called for the use of digital currencies to circumvent US sanctions. Then it was said that the country plans to develop the next effective cryptocurrency solutions to serve the state interests.
It is noteworthy that Mani Yekta discourages Iranians from investing in cryptocurrencies:
“Citizens should be aware of the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrency assets. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and there is no regulator to control the market, resulting in huge losses for investors. "
Apparently, the official’s comments were prompted by the ongoing bull run in bitcoin, as a result of which the asset price exceeded $ 28,000. In addition, he added that efforts are being made to amend regulations, including an increase in fines for unauthorized mining and cryptocurrency trading.
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A crypto asset, not a security. Japan stood up for XPR
As it turns out, not everyone has turned their backs on XRP. Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings has issued a statement saying XRP is a cryptocurrency asset under local law.
Recently, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, claiming that it earned $1.3 billion from unregistered XRP sales to retail investors.
SBI referred to a research article by Sadakazu Osaka of the Nomura Research Institute, which indicated that XRP is a cryptocurrency asset under Japanese law, not a security.
In October, it was reported that Ripple intends to invest in SBI's blockchain payments subsidiary MoneyTap, which planned to use RippleNet technology to reduce the cost of remittances in Japan.
Many cryptocurrency companies around the world are ditching XRP. Among them are the American Bitwise, the European Bitstamp and the Hong Kong-based OSL trading platform.
“SBI is trying to embellish the situation in order to minimize the damage to its reputation in Japan due to the Ripple litigation. SBI is an aggressive player in the Japanese financial industry and is working to become a leader in the Japanese cryptocurrency industry. However, it has many regulated divisions in other areas that would not want to spoil their reputation, ”said Joel Edgerton, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BitFlyer USA.
As you know, the BitFlyer exchange also has a strong position in Japan.
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The analyst explained why the growth of the bitcoin rate will continue in the near future
According to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Yong Joo, the lack of whales with large amounts of bitcoin for sale could clear the way for further price growth for the top cryptocurrency.
According to the data aggregator of the cryptocurrency market CryptoQuant, in the past few days, fewer and fewer bitcoin whales with large reserves of assets are bringing BTC to cryptocurrency exchanges.
CryptoQuant's "exchange whale ratio", calculated by dividing the top 10 incoming BTC transactions per hour by the total BTC inflow to exchanges, fell below 85%. From December 8 to December 22, this ratio remained above 85% as the whales took profits during the ongoing bull run (Bitcoin price peaked at $28,352 on Sunday December 27). Some market fatigue is expected, Yong Joo said, but he believes institutionalists will fill in some of the gap.
“I believe this bitcoin bull run will continue because institutional players are still buying the asset and the stock whale ratio remains below 85%,” Yong Joo said.