Iran has placed its first official import order using cryptocurrency worth $10 million, according to a government official.” By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will spread to foreign trade with target countries,” this official added.
Iran Using Crypto for Import Orders
Iran this week placed its first official import order for $10 million worth of goods in cryptocurrency. Alireza Peymanpak, deputy minister of Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade and president of the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), made the announcement Tuesday via Twitter (translated by Google).
The first official import order worth $10 million in cryptocurrency was successfully placed this week.
“By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will spread to foreign trade with the target countries,” his tweet further stated.
Iran has been considering allowing the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for imports for over a year. Last August, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) announced that banks and licensed currency exchangers could use cryptocurrencies mined by licensed crypto miners in Iran to pay for imported goods.
The Iranian government approved cryptocurrency mining as an industry in 2019; in January 2020, the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Trade issued over 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining operations.
However, Iranian authorities say some unlicensed miners are using household electricity for cryptocurrency mining, causing major problems for the country’s power industry. Licensed crypto miners have been ordered to shut down operations several times to prevent power outages. Last September, authorities reportedly confiscated more than 220,000 mining machines and shut down about 6,000 illegal crypto mining farms nationwide.
In April of this year, officials from Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said the country’s administration would approve new regulations that would increase penalties for unauthorized cryptocurrency mining.
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