(12 August 2022 – Iran) Iran officially completed its first import order using cryptocurrency which could enable the country to avoid crippling US sanctions.
The US$10 million transaction represented the first step in a new sequence enabling the country to trade using digital assets that circumvent the US Dollar (USD) dominated commodity market and global financial system to trade with other sanctioned countries such as Russia.
The US imposes a stringent economic embargo on Iran, including a ban on all imports including those from the country's oil, financial services and logistics industries.
A recent study reported that almost five percent of all bitcoin mining is based in Iran, predominantly attributed to the country's cost effective power generation. The mining of cryptocurrency could help Iran generate millions in revenue that can be used to buy imports and lessen the impact of sanctions.
Central African Republic (CAR), one of the world's poorest countries, has also embraced crypto. It became the first African state to make bitcoin legal tender in April, and last month launched its own digital coin. El Salvador last year also adopted bitcoin as legal tender, though the project has been beset by public scepticism amid tumbling crypto prices.
“By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries,” an Iranian Ministry Member of Industry, Mine and Trade said in an official communication.