Although there is political turmoil enveloping Iran right now, Bitcoin is being adopted more and more in Iran.
Growing Despite Censorship
Large protests took place in Iran last week and some sources stated that more than 20 people were killed during the demonstrations.. High unemployment, inequality, housing costs and other economic hardships are some of the things that triggered the protests.. Despite limited internet access and intermittent internet outages, the cryptocurrency community in Iran is gaining strength amid all this turmoil.
Cryptocurrencies are Safer
Blockchain researcher Ziya Sadr based in Tehran recently told the media about the protests and cryptocurrencies. “I keep all my money, all my capital mostly in Bitcoin and some other altcoins… the reason I only hold cryptocurrencies is the economic situation of Iran” said Sadr “I have seen people around me increasingly do the same” he added. Ziya Sadr expects “more people to do this”. Sadr also stated that one of his favorite altcoins is Monero due to its advanced privacy features.. Sadr says there is still time for people in Iran to realize privacy-based coins, as the Iranian government has still not given any clear indication that it will ban Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. He said he has the experience, talent, and resources to deal with the current internet censorship:
“The internet connection was awful last week.. It wasn’t pulling from anywhere.. Internet connection is bad in general. But sometimes the phones (go). Pretty confusing for ordinary people. For the past few days they didn’t know how to communicate. But tech-savvy Iranians are equipped for such barriers because we’ve been dealing with social media blocking for a long time.”
Record Trade Volume
Data shared by Coindance According to Peer-to-peer trade between Iranian Rial and Bitcoin over the past weeks, protests have only just flared up, reaching record volumes. More than 70 billion Iranian Rials worth of Bitcoin were traded in the week of December 23. Looking at the 6.3 billion Iranian Rial record set in the market in November, there was more than 1000% increase in volume in December compared to the previous month.. Sadr said that the peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading increased during the turmoil:
“A few days ago we bought 100 Bitcoin in the morning and sold it at noon.”
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