Hodl Hodl, a peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange, has recently started offering Iranian users discounts on trading fees if they sing up before mid-June, in a move made to take advantage of a competitor withdrawing from the country.
According to a recently published post, Hodl Hodl “would like to embrace the Farsi-speaking market,” and has its platform “almost fully” translated into the language. To grab users’ attention, the exchange is offering discounts on exchange fees.
The post notes that users who register with the referral code “IRAN” until mid-June will “permanently receive the discounted exchange fee of 0.55%.” Moreover, the trading platform launched a private Telegram group, as the messaging app stops Iranians from joining foreign groups.
The exchange’s move comes after LocalBitcoins, a leading peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange, withdrew from Iran, presumably over U.S.-led sanctions that also pressured other cryptocurrency exchanges into withdrawing their services from the country.
The move saw LocalBitcoins join the likes of Binance, ShapeShift, and Bittrex in halting their services in Iran. As covered the country has been banned from using the SWIFT system, and in response launched its own gold-backed cryptocurrency called “PayMon.”
Details Emerge on Irans XLM-Based Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency https://t.co/rm1OZvlfev #Iran #Paymon #Gold #Sanctions #Us
— CryptoGlobe (@CryptoGlobeInfo) February 16, 2019
The cryptocurrency seemingly hasn’t been mentioned since reports revealed a company called Ghoghnoos and four national banks were cooperating with authorities to produce a system for it.
Besides Hodl Hodl there are other alternatives out there for Iranian user. Truly decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges cannot discriminate based on nationality. Some even allow users to trade crypto directly from their wallets, improving security.