North Korea is developing its own cryptocurrency to circumvent international sanctions

North Korea is reportedly in the early stages of developing its own cryptocurrency to avoid crippling international sanctions and circumvent the U.S.-dominated global financial system.

According to VICE News, Alejandro Cao de Benos, head of the North Korean Cryptocurrency Conference and special representative of the North Korean Cultural Committee, said that the digital currency, which has no name yet, will be "more like Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies." He also said that the goal of developing cryptocurrency is to "avoid international sanctions and circumvent the US-dominated global financial system."

In addition, the country currently has no plans to digitize the North Korean won. However, North Korea’s representative to the United Nations neither confirmed nor denied Cao de Benos’s remarks, saying:

"I can't give you an answer."

"North Korea has demonstrated a broad interest in cryptocurrencies, with expertise in crypto mining, hacking exchanges, cryptojacking, and more," said analyst Kayla Izenman. "There is no doubt that they have the technical expertise to develop and exploit almost any cryptocurrency, whether that means laundering money through foreign unregulated exchanges or creating a nationalized cryptocurrency for themselves."

North Korea-backed hackers have amassed more than $2 billion in fiat and digital currencies in recent years to help advance the country’s weapons programs, according to a United Nations report published last month, an assertion denied by North Korea.

It is currently impossible to confirm whether North Korea will issue an official national legal digital currency, like Venezuela and other countries.

Countries that issue digital currencies

After Venezuela became the world's first country to issue a national legal digital currency, another country, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), announced that it will soon launch a blockchain legal digital currency. The Marshall Islands may not be the last country to issue a legal digital currency, and more and more countries may have been secretly considering it.

Since its establishment, the Republic of the Marshall Islands has been using the US dollar and has no sovereign currency of its own. On February 26, 2018, the Republic of the Marshall Islands passed the Sovereign Currency Act, announcing that it would launch a new national digital currency SOV (full name Sovereign) based on blockchain technology.

In early September this year, David Paul, Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, said that the country's digital currency SOV would take about 18-24 months, and it might be officially launched in a shorter time. Anyone in the world can register on the reservation website.

The economy of the Marshall Islands is very backward and has long relied mainly on foreign aid. Its fiscal revenue mainly comes from loans and aid from countries and international organizations such as the United States and Japan.

But issuing a legal digital currency may not be the way to redemption for the Marshall Islands. In 2018, Venezuela took the lead and became the first country to issue a legal digital currency, the Petro, hoping that cryptocurrencies could improve the country's hyperinflation and economic recession, but the country's economy does not seem to have improved because of the Petro. And the use of the Petro has not been popularized in the country, while Bitcoin has repeatedly set new highs in Venezuela.

According to statistics from the Tradingeconomics website, Venezuela's inflation rates in March, April and May of this year were as high as 329,568%, 329,568% and 815,194% respectively.

Source: Scallion Blockchain