Introduction
“Bitcoin is a classic network effect and a positive feedback loop. The more people use Bitcoin, the more valuable it becomes for everyone who uses it, and the motivation to start using this technology increases for the next user. This feature, i.e., the network effect of Bitcoin, is exactly similar to the effect of the telephone system, the web, and the internet.” Moving on from this reminder about the network effect and Bitcoin, which is a quote from Mark Anderson, we now turn to a review of current issues and the content of this issue.
I congratulate Mr. Masoud Pezeshkian and his colleagues, as well as the voters, on the early elections and his election as president. The new government promises to bring about changes in governance structures and processes. In this issue, Maral Koushki has prepared blockchain-related proposals for the president. However, at the beginning of the new government’s activities, there is hope that, especially for the appointees and managers the president assigns to important sectors of the country’s economy and technology, they will take an “expert view” on Web 3 and digital assets, as emphasized by him.
Traditional and, God forbid backward views, which are still pursuing ideas from ten or twelve years ago in opposition to Bitcoin and digital assets, have caused irreparable damage to the country’s development and the advancement of financial technologies in various governments. However, today repeating past harms not only disrupts the country’s development but is also a war against time and the destruction of the future. Web 3, the tokenized economy, and the global expansion of digital assets have inevitably arrived, and Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are no longer emerging phenomena that can be harmed by the decisions of a manager, an organization, or a government. Rather, the cost of harmful decisions falls on managers who are out of sync with the current and future trends of financial technology.
In this issue, as in several recent issues, we have paid special attention to the topics of BRICS and de-dollarization. The recent trip of Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf to the BRICS Parliamentary Summit and the constructive positions he expressed, as well as the upcoming trip of President Pezeshkian to the BRICS Leaders’ Summit, represent important opportunities for Iran to take meaningful steps in combating sanctions, advancing development, and playing a role in a new and multipolar world order.
Leaving BRICS aside, Hossein Ghotbi in this issue reviews one of the latest reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on cross-border Bitcoin transactions.
It is worth noting that the World Bank and the IMF have traditionally been instruments of dollar dominance and opponents of Bitcoin. The IMF has not even provided a clear definition of digital assets or the nature of Bitcoin and, over the years, has made efforts not only to restrict but also to ignore digital assets. However, the new report shows that the expansion of Bitcoin is undeniable, and the world, along with the most powerful institutions that dominate it, must now submit to the future.
Stay tuned for the next issue.
