The battle between Babak Zanjani and the Central Bank over cryptocurrency licenses, not debt
The new conflict between Babak Zanjani and the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not about past large debts but rather about cryptocurrency activity licenses that Zanjani claims ownership of but are not recognized by the Central Bank.
In recent days, Babak Zanjani has denied the existence of any cryptocurrency or token under the name Dotavan on the social network X and also through his official website.
However, existing documents and information indicate that this cryptocurrency belongs to the economic team under his management, and while it has not yet officially entered the market, it is tradable on some platforms.
This cryptocurrency was proposed some time ago by Zanjani and Shahram Jazayeri, and according to available information, it is intended to play a role in Iran’s informal trade exchanges.
The main problem, however, is the lack of an official license from the Central Bank for the operation of this cryptocurrency.
On the other hand, the Central Bank has reacted very strongly to Zanjani’s claims. Mostafa Qamari Vafa, the Director General of Public Relations at the Central Bank, wrote in response to Zanjani’s recent statements:
You do not have an economic activity license from the Central Bank or any legal entity in the country; stop lying.
He called Zanjani a fraudster and a super debtor and demanded that instead of making baseless claims about cryptocurrency and blockchain, he should pay his debts to the public treasury.
In this regard, Mohammad Reza Farzin, the Governor of the Central Bank, has also explicitly stated that Babak Zanjani must settle his debt through the sale of nickel, and settlement through cryptocurrency or blockchain projects is not acceptable to the Central Bank.
However, Zanjani claims that since last year, he proposed to the Governor of the Central Bank that the country’s banking transactions be transferred to the blockchain platform, and that this project had even reached the execution stage with a written order from the Supreme National Security Council, but it was halted by the Central Bank.
Meanwhile, an announcement was published on the official website of Dotavan Holding denying the existence of any cryptocurrency, but informed entities and some evidence suggest that the Dotavan cryptocurrency is under development and the dispute with the Central Bank is the main obstacle to its official launch.
