Demonstrations broke out in Tehran on December 29 after the Iranian rial hit its weakest level against the US dollar.
Many citizens said poor central bank decisions were responsible for the decline in value, which left their savings worth far less than before.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said the crisis highlights why people look to digital currencies like Bitcoin
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In a post on X, he said, “Economic mismanagement, the story of the past, present, and future, Bitcoin is a new way for the people to protect themselves“. He suggested that, in times of economic instability, Bitcoin can help individuals shield their assets from losses in local currency.
Reports from the Financial Times noted that the rial’s value has dropped by more than 40% since the brief war with Israel in June. The exchange rate has reached a record low of around 1.4 million rials to one US dollar.
The fall in currency value has also led to political changes. Iran’s central bank governor, Mohammad Reza Farzin, resigned as protests spread.
Although cryptocurrency trading is technically allowed in Iran, the laws around holding digital coins personally are unclear, and Bitcoin mining is tightly controlled.
VanEck’s head of research, Matthew Sigel, pointed out that the government has been discouraging people from mining Bitcoin.
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, shared his thoughts on Bitcoin’s performance over the next decade. What did he say? Read the full story.
