ICT Ministry Prepares National Crypto Prototype

Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said on Saturday his ministry has prepared a preliminary prototype of the national virtual currency in collaboration with the Central Bank of Iran-affiliate Monetary and Banking Research Institute.
Azari-Jahromi said Post Bank is also a party to the development of the prototype and last week announced that it has been finalized, IBENA reported. 
The announcement comes, as CBI last week banned the country’s banks from dealing in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, over money-laundering concerns. 
According to a statement published on CBI’s official website, the decision to ban all monetary and financial institutions from using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was taken during the 30th meeting of the High Council of Anti-Money Laundering on Dec. 30, 2017.