Iran Distorts Reported Bitcoin Prices: BTC Now At $24,000

The sellers on peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins from Iran are apparently asking for around 1 billion Iranian rials which equals to $24,000 per Bitcoin (BTC) based on the official exchange rate from the country’s central bank. In the cryptocurrency news today, we can see that Iran distorts the reported Bitcoin prices – which are far from the real picture.

The big question is why are the Iranians doing this?

The apparent staggering premium in Iran is relative to the current global market price may only exist on the surface. In reality, it is really uncommon for countries with weak national currencies (including Venezuela) to have dual exchange rates. However, Iran distorts the rates now and we can see that it is far from the actual market rate or the real amount of dollars that a regular person would get for their rials.

“It’s only possible for few businesses and government with special procedure to get that rate,” explained one crypto expert named Ali Beikverdi. “The official rate is what the central bank says. But literally, no one except some government organizations can get that rate while no one can use it. It’s a joke.”

Beikverdi also noted that Iran distorts these rates and “if you wanna buy USD today in Tehran, the price is about 140,000 IRR.” In other words, while the real rate is around 42,000 IRR per $1 – which results in a Bitcoin worth $24,000 – the actual rate in the street would give a person something closer to Bitcoin’s actual global market price which is currently around $7,300.

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin news now also show that the prices are changing in midst of tensions between United States and Iran. The recent airstrike at Baghdad’s airport ordered by the US President Donald Trump killed the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force. This led to a surge in the global oil prices and may be the reason why Iran distorts the real price of Bitcoin, which recently rebounded from weekly lows of around $6,850.

Meanwhile, when looking at the BTC prices on LocalBitcoins in Iran, the founder of the crypto analytics outlet Messari Ryan Selkis (by mistake) noted that there is a huge premium as a result.

“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,” he wrote.