The Central Bank of Iran says it will make the CryptoRial, a central bank digital currency, available to the public within two weeks.
Peivast Magazine on Thursday quoted an official from the CBI, who said that the project has already past its pilot stages and is set to be launched on February 7.
According to the official, Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Tejarat were involved in the experimental stages of the project. All banks and credit institutions are to start offering electronic wallets for using the new form of national currency.
Bank Melli and Bank Mellat have started selling limited amounts of crypto-rial and also accept the crypto-rial.
The Money Reserve Supervisory Board has approved 10 billion rials of Crypto-Rial be minted for use in the pre-pilot phase. This is expected to increase by the time the pilot phase is ready for launch.
The CBI has said that it has in place infrastructure for the crypto-rial that is planned as a new type of national currency, like banknotes and coins, but fully digital.
Based on what is known about the CBI crypto agenda, the digital currency is not designed to compete with global cryptocurrencies. Unlike bitcoin and other cryptos, CBDCs are centralized, not anonymous and in accord with anti-money laundering requirements.
The move seeks to help expand financial inclusion and function as a powerful tool for the CBI to compete with other stable coins globally.