Cyber

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long way to go before it’s ready to launch a national cryptocurrency. Tehran’s central bank has that ambition, but the effort remains at the experimental stage. Some recent media reports claim that Iran has “launched” a state cryptocurrency based on gold called the Peyman. What really is happening, however, is less dramatic. It has few immediate implications for Iranian sanctions evasion, but does signal Iran’s strategic intent to use blockchain technology to develop long-term sanctions resistance.

In a letter to British lawmakers trying to reassure London that Huawei is not assisting Chinese espionage, Ryan Ding, president of the company’s carrier business group, wrote, “Were Huawei ever to engage in malicious behavior, it would not go unnoticed.” But the United States and its allies have noticed. Washington must therefore investigate and prosecute the full range of Huawei’s apparent illegal and illicit activities, and bar any lawbreaker from contributing to U.S. critical telecommunications infrastructure.

An arrest in Canada. Another in Poland. Government bans in Canberra, Wellington, and Tokyo. Corporate snubs and ostracism in South Korea, Britain, Germany, and France. The loss of purchase orders by one of the world’s largest wireless providers. And now a 13-count indictment by the U.S. Justice Department. It has been a bad few months for Chinese telecommunication titan Huawei. Unleashing the collective power of its democratic allies, the United States may have finally found the formula for imposing real costs on its cyber adversaries.

Unlimited personal freedom has never existed in the societies that have have produced the greatest amount of civil liberty known to humankind. If the crypto space wants to promote liberty, it must keep in mind that great freedom, if it is to be maintained, will always come with great responsibility.