Who is buying Bitcoin in Iran?

[Jet Cash]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market. So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases? Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, chairman of Iran’s economic commission, has stated that more than $2.5 billion has been transferred out of the country via Bitcoin. Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

[ubercool]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market. So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases? Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, chairman of Iran’s economic commission, has stated that more than $2.5 billion has been transferred out of the country via Bitcoin. Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

It might be Iranian government also. You can't deny that, may be the super wealthy people trying to take out their money with Bitcoin. I guess the people who are trying to sell may be in a loss if they get the payment in Iranian rials.

[darkangel11]

After that use of lethal force by the US they have to be scared of an incoming conflict and we all know who gets hurt the most in these things. It's not the military or the politicians but the local people who just want to run their businesses and drive kids to school. I bet it's the business owners trying to protect themselves from an eventual bank run.

[boltz]

They might move a big bunch of Bitcoin out of the country due to last actions by USA against them ? I know that the second most important man of Iran, just died yesterday in that attack and I'm sure more will follow and I don't know what IRAN did to upset USA this big. Right now, their national currency+reserve is in big trouble alongside economy so that transaction could be the Government moving the asset into other wallet.

[abdobe]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market. So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases? Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, chairman of Iran’s economic commission, has stated that more than $2.5 billion has been transferred out of the country via Bitcoin. Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

Bitcoin will serve as a means of preserving and transmitting value. During warfare, it is more flexible and versatile than fiat money and bank accounts. It can not be stopped by the statement

[Jet Cash]

I know that the second most important man of Iran, just died yesterday in that attack.

Is that true? I thought that he was the public head of a covert operations section, and not that important. They seem to have replaced him pretty quickly, and expanded the department, so it looks as if once again the US has shot itself in the foot. It was an orchestrated move according to John Bolton, and not the preemptive strike that the media reports. In fact it was really the murder of a diplomat attending a planned and well reported meeting in a foreign sovereign state, and many see it as yet another example of US terrorism.

[KrisAlex18]

After that use of lethal force by the US they have to be scared of an incoming conflict and we all know who gets hurt the most in these things. It's not the military or the politicians but the local people who just want to run their businesses and drive kids to school. I bet it's the business owners trying to protect themselves from an eventual bank run.

I feel very sad for normal people in Iran whose intention is to survive everyday by working and doing business, it just makes me sad knowing that they are the primary people who would suffer from the risk of threatening world war especially the young ones who does not know what is going on. It is not about crypto anymore but the humanity as a whole.

[Blitzboy]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market. So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases? Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, chairman of Iran’s economic commission, has stated that more than $2.5 billion has been transferred out of the country via Bitcoin. Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

Bitcoin will serve as a means of preserving and transmitting value. During warfare, it is more flexible and versatile than fiat money and bank accounts. It can not be stopped by the statement

Exactly, it can do things like that, but it always comes with risks. If you transfer most of your wealth to Bitcoin, it's like a venture capital investment. You do not know how much your money is in the future, it will depend on the value of bitcoin. What would happen if Bitcoin dropped more, even $ 3,000 per bitcoin? You lose more than half of your money, terrible! But anyway, it's better than anything else when war breaks out.

[bittraffic]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market. So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases? Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, chairman of Iran’s economic commission, has stated that more than $2.5 billion has been transferred out of the country via Bitcoin. Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

Bitcoin will serve as a means of preserving and transmitting value. During warfare, it is more flexible and versatile than fiat money and bank accounts. It can not be stopped by the statement

Exactly, it can do things like that, but it always comes with risks. If you transfer most of your wealth to Bitcoin, it's like a venture capital investment. You do not know how much your money is in the future, it will depend on the value of bitcoin. What would happen if Bitcoin dropped more, even $ 3,000 per bitcoin? You lose more than half of your money, terrible! But anyway, it's better than anything else when war breaks out.

Its not what they worry as for now but the wealth to be secure and safety of their lives. War can take years and years before it ends so keeping it in BTC makes sense.
But $2.5B in just a day, certainly these buyers are very much in panic. I really think this won't end to WW3, there is just too much to lose for Iran since they aren't that equipped to go war.

[fortunecrypto]

After that use of lethal force by the US they have to be scared of an incoming conflict and we all know who gets hurt the most in these things. It's not the military or the politicians but the local people who just want to run their businesses and drive kids to school. I bet it's the business owners trying to protect themselves from an eventual bank run.

That's also what I'm thinking, they know that Bitcoin is easy to transfer and they can protect their wealth instead of putting it in a bank just like what the people in Hongkong experienced, all they need is a ledger wallet or something that housed their private key, but I just hope the situation will not worsen and will not escalate to war.

[hilariousetc]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market. So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases? Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, chairman of Iran’s economic commission, has stated that more than $2.5 billion has been transferred out of the country via Bitcoin. Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

It could just be average citizens afraid that their local currency is going to tank because of possible war or economic sanctions. From what I remember from Venezuela there was a lot of regular citizens buying up bitcoin when their economy went tits up after hyperinflation set in. Maybe people in Iran are just using bitcoin to easily get their money out of the country as I'm sure it's much easier to do than the other cash alternatives which I'm sure a lot of them have already been restricted by the US.

I know that the second most important man of Iran, just died yesterday in that attack.

Is that true? I thought that he was the public head of a covert operations section, and not that important. They seem to have replaced him pretty quickly, and expanded the department, so it looks as if once again the US has shot itself in the foot. It was an orchestrated move according to John Bolton, and not the preemptive strike that the media reports. In fact it was really the murder of a diplomat attending a planned and well reported meeting in a foreign sovereign state, and many see it as yet another example of US terrorism.

The media was basically kind of saying that's he's essentially the second most powerful man in Iran, but not sure how accurate that is. I guess being the head of the military is a powerful position but it's not like it's just one step down from the president.

[ReiMomo]

Probably government itself using bitcoin to buy weapons in other countries and some rich people reserve their money into Bitcoin because it is safe to store wealth. Based on this statement on the article,
"Bitcoin is trading at nearly $24,000 in the USD equivalent of Iranian Rials on LocalBitcoins today. It's unlikely those purchases are paying for the Iranian military's response. Instead, it might be innocent (and desperate) Iranians looking for a way out of the coming chaos." source: .
That was clear that the government of Iran is preparing for possible retaliation.

[Jet Cash]

He wasn't the head of the military. He was the long term head of a covert operations division of the military, and had no executive powers over national military decisions. He was also the leader of the attacks on ISIS and Daish - the terrorists groups promoted and armed by John Bolton, and the US.

[Sebas.tian]

We know what have been said about Bitcoin and it anonymity. Iranians businessman and women would be looking to convert their fiats into digital currency most especially into bitcoin. Although, this can also be the government move to secure some good position before the US government will clap down on them at last. This move from the government should be applaud because it will help them prepare tactically.

Bitcoiners should get ready for a boom if the fight will escalate later according the some medias. Meanwhile, US government should know that; the end of USD has finally come and not to be a business as usual when they forcefully go into war with countries just to get more USD for their economy.

[Wysi]

This is mote complicated to understand than we think because Iran is closed knit country and it's really difficult to know what's the ground reality because there are possibilities that Iranian businesses can use bitcoin as a payment method for trade I mean illegal trades due to the existing sanctions and as yes we expected for price dump during new year which did not happen so there are possibilities that whales are holding upto to Bitcoin.

[iamsheikhadil]

Lol, I don't think there will be world war 3 but yeah I would love to see Iranians buying crypto but spending it in Iran tonadopt the currency and parallel use the traditional currency as well to make the economy stronger and transactions with privacy so that no third party country can monitor its transactions.

[bangjoe]

Probably government itself using bitcoin to buy weapons in other countries and some rich people reserve their money into Bitcoin because it is safe to store wealth. Based on this statement on the article,
"Bitcoin is trading at nearly $24,000 in the USD equivalent of Iranian Rials on LocalBitcoins today. It's unlikely those purchases are paying for the Iranian military's response. Instead, it might be innocent (and desperate) Iranians looking for a way out of the coming chaos." source: .
That was clear that the government of Iran is preparing for possible retaliation.

Ali Khamenei has set a time of mourning for three days, and then has claimed for strong retaliation, it looks like you are right. but maybe the dominance of bitcoin purchases was carried out by Iranian businessmen and investors in panic because they realized this would have a bad impact on the national economy, if it really happened then it would probably be worse than Venezuela.

[gentlemand]

Apparently the price has trebled on the local Bitcoins market.

And the 'real' exchange rate is several times lower than the official one. Do the math and it's probably in line with most other places. Same goes for anywhere else with a joke economy. Every time something gets worse for Iran the exchange rate agreed on between actual people drifts further away from what the government is claiming.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

So is it rich people trying to preserve their wealth, or is it people using it for everyday purchases?

I doubt Iranians are buying bitcoin just to spend it.  Their currency isn't in trouble as far as I know, so I don't know why bitcoin would be needed for purchases. 

Will this be the primary function of Bitcoin as we creep towards World War 3?

They're sending bitcoin out of the country?  Is there a mass exodus of Iranians happening or what?  Where are they sending their bitcoin to?  It would make sense that people would use bitcoin for cross-border transfers, since that can be done relatively anonymously, but I'm wondering what the purpose is for doing so.

And as I wrote in a couple other threads dealing with this situation, I'm very much hoping WWIII doesn't get kicked off here.  I don't know what the hell Trump is thinking, but I don't think like a psychopath so I'm at a disadvantage.

[minersday]

That's such a huge amount and i am wondering for what purpose are they really purchasing these bitcoins for? Are they planning to purchase some illegal weapons to fight the US. I don't think this would lead to war, i expect the international peace keeping bodies to step into this situation before things go downside to create a whole lot of unrest in these countries. We need peace!