Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.12
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Iran could release crypto currencies backed by oil and gas, instead of using bitcoin, Sam Barden, Director of SBI Markets, an international commodity trading and advisory company, told Trend.
The expert believes that there is absolutely no point in Iran pursuing any policy which relies on the use of US dollar.
“Bitcoin would be secure, have intrinsic value, unlike the USD, and create direct trade between partners without the need for third party settlement. This would also drastically reduce the cost per transaction, making a more efficient, modern, peaceful, real time trading market,” said Barden, adding that however, use of bitcoin is also inexpedient for Iran.
“I think the first thing to note is that the crypto currency bitcoin is in a huge speculative bubble right now, which means it is very volatile. I do not think bitcoin would be suitable or good for Iran to settle oil trades. However, blockchain, the technology which underlies bitcoin, would be good. Iran could create its own crypto currency, linked to energy,” said the expert.
Barden pointed out that rather than have a totally speculative instrument such as bitcoin, Iran could release crypto currencies backed by oil and gas.
“It could be called "energy coin" for example, and each coin could be related to a barrel of oil or mmtu of gas. Coins could trade on an exchange, such as the Iran Oil Bourse on Kish Island, and Iran could settle all their energy trades in “energy coin”. Iran could then use “energy coins” for international trade with its partners,” said the expert.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system. It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator. The network is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly through the use of cryptography, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in an immutable public distributed ledger called a blockchain.
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