North Korea Has Started Developing Its Own Cryptocurrency To Escape International Sanctions

According to reports, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has begun the development of its own digital currency. The Vice News report says that the DPRK decided to do this as a way to circumvent policies and sanctions against them from other countries and also a way to transcend the global financial system they described as “U.S.-dominated.”

The government, especially in recent times, has shown some interest in cryptocurrency and back in April, Pyongyang gathered crypto experts from within and outside the country, for a blockchain and crypto conference, the first one it has ever put together.

The head of North Korea’s crypto conferences, Alejandro Cao de Benos, has described the upcoming asset as something “more like Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies” but says there is not yet a name for the asset. He also suggested that it might not just be a digital won.

“We are still in the very early stages in the creation of the token. Now we are in the phase of studying the goods that will give value to it [but there are] no plans to digitize the won for now.”

North Korea probably didn’t just adopt Bitcoin or any of the already existing cryptocurrencies because most of them are truly decentralized and could be tracked. The DPRK’s own cryptocurrency will totally be controlled by them, with the hopes that it could help them avoid the prying eyes of the international community.

Last month, the U.N. Security Council released a report which fingered North Korea as the master mind of a series of hacks that targeted financial institutions and crypto exchanges worldwide and illegally obtained $2billion. North Korea has since denied the allegation.

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