Iran Completes First Stage of Trials with its CBDC

The Central Bank of Iran is planning to issue its own token, which will be used to bypass Western financial sanctions.

The Institute for Monetary and Banking Research, along with the regulator’s research division, have already successfully completed the first phase of testing the digital rial.

Mohammad Reza Mani Yekta, head of the Payment Systems Supervision Authority of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic, has announced the commencement of a second and broader stage of CBDC testing.

This phase will involve retail users and banks, with the goal of expediting the project’s implementation and allowing Iranian banks to offer digital wallets to their customers.

The first phase of digital rial testing began in January last year.