Iran’s new ‘Reforming Monetary and Banking Law’ has passed in parliament to launch a new currency as coronavirus and sanctions hyperinflate the rial and local Bitcoin prices skyrocket relative to official exchanges.
On May 4, it has been reported by local outlet Mehr News that the new law dictates the transition from rial to the toman, valued at 10,000 rials, within the next two years.
However, in 2018, the Iranian authorities set an official exchange rate at some 42,000 rials to the dollar, as many currency exchanges still show this as the going rate.
At the same time, LocalBitcoins, the peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, is seeing prices of 1,445,658,900 rials per BTC, according to the official exchange rate, roughly $34,500.
Iran to replace the rial with the toman as coronavirus and sanctions ravage economy https://t.co/HhuAakuq4J — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 4, 2020
It has been analyzed that it is not the time to start selling BTC in Iran. In spite of official proclamations, the rial has taken a beating alongside the Iranian economy.
According to Radio Free Europe, black market trading had the US dollar selling for 156,000 rials. The toman would cut four zeroes off of current rates, but may well run into the same problems that have stymied the rial.
Thus, recently, Iran’s struggle to contain the coronavirus and the collapse of the price of oil has compounded existing problems.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Pixabay