The semi-official Tasnim Agency reported Tuesday that Iran this week placed its first official import order using cryptocurrencies, a move that could enable the Islamic republic to circumvent US sanctions that have crippled the economy.
The $10 million order was the first step toward allowing the country to trade via digital assets, bypassing the dollar-dominated global financial system and similar US sanctions for doing business with other countries. limited by, such as Russia. The agency did not specify which cryptocurrency was used in the transaction.
“By the end of September, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries,” an official from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade said on Twitter.
The United States imposes almost total economic sanctions on Iran, which includes sanctions on all imports, including from the country’s oil, banking and shipping sectors.
Tehran is one of the largest economies yet to adopt cryptocurrency technology, having originated in 2008 as a payment instrument aimed at eroding government control over finances and economies.
Last year, a study found that 4.5% of all bitcoin mining was taking place in Iran, partly as a result of the country’s cheap electricity. Mining the cryptocurrency could help Iran earn hundreds of millions of dollars which can be used to buy imports and mitigate the impact of sanctions.
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are highly volatile, making them impractical for large-scale payments.
The European Union said on Monday it put forward a “final” text on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as four days of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials in Vienna ended.
Under the 2015 deal, Iran curbed its nuclear program in exchange for US, EU and UN sanctions relief. But former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and reinstated harsh US sanctions, leaving Tehran to violate the deal’s nuclear limits nearly a year later.
The Central African Republic (CAR), one of the world’s poorest countries, has also adopted crypto. It became the first African state to make bitcoin legal tender in April, and launched its own digital coin last month.
El Salvador also adopted bitcoin as legal tender last year, although the project has been surrounded by public skepticism amid declining crypto prices.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.
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