Iran Prosperity Project: stablecoin or Bitcoin, which can replace the rial?

On the evening of Friday, 16 October 2026, Prince Reza Pahlavi's media office released a video by Burgan Nezami, an economist and one of the authors of the Iran Prosperity Project, addressing one of the questions on Iranians' minds today: as the rial loses its value, which digital asset could replace it?

According to the Prince's media office, the difference between Bitcoin and stablecoins matters in the debate over alternatives to the rial. Bitcoin is highly volatile, whereas stablecoins such as Tether are designed to hold a value equal to the dollar. In the video, Mr Nezami explains this difference and examines the consequences of wider use of stablecoins, from household savings to everyday transactions and contracts.

Why a replacement for the rial has become the question of the day

The rial's repeated collapses and high inflation have sharply reduced Iranians' purchasing power. The World Bank has projected that inflation will reach about 74 percent this year and that millions more people will be pushed below the poverty line. The effect of this collapse on people's tables is plain: the price of chicken and eggs has multiplied as the rial has fallen.

In these conditions, the choice between a highly volatile asset such as Bitcoin and a cryptocurrency whose value is tied to the dollar makes a decisive difference to anyone trying to protect the fruits of their labour from inflation.

The Iran Prosperity Project's plan for the economy after the Islamic Republic

The Iran Prosperity Project, backed by Prince Reza Pahlavi, is drawing up economic plans for the emergency period and the transition after the Islamic Republic. On Thursday, the Prince's media office announced that the transfer of the Iran Prosperity Project from Nofedi to a new body has been completed. Earlier, Saeed Ghasseminejad, the project's director, had said that the emergency-period handbook has been revised with thousands of comments and that nearly 200 specialists took part in writing it.

The short educational videos by the project's authors are part of an effort to explain Iran's economic problems today, and the solutions for tomorrow, to fellow countrymen in plain language.

In a new video, the Iran Prosperity Project explained the difference between volatile Bitcoin and dollar-pegged stablecoins as a replacement for the rial.