If Iranian banks are blocked from SWIFT, the (traditional) international payments networks, government interest for alternative blockchain-based payments systems is certain to rise SWIFT-ly. (I couldn’t help it). And it potentially wouldn’t just come from authoritarian states like Iran, Russia, Venezuela and China, but also from EU entities as transatlantic policy divergence deepens.
Still, at least one expert questions whether or not sanctions could arise at all. Namely, “if the EU refrains from excluding Iran from SWIFT, the U.S. could sanction the cooperative, but that could prove harmful to American interests as it would have major consequences for the global financial system.” Read his analysis here.