The semi-official Tasnim agency reported on Tuesday that Iran made its first official import order using cryptocurrency this week. This could allow the Islamic Republic to get around US sanctions that have severely harmed the economy.
The order, which was for $10 million (approximately Rs. 80 crore), was a first step toward enabling the nation to trade using digital assets that do not rely on the dollar and to engage in commerce with other nations that are similarly constrained by US sanctions, such as Russia. Which cryptocurrency was utilized in the transaction was not made clear by the agency.
An official from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Commerce stated on Twitter that "by the end of September, the usage of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts would be widely implemented in foreign trade with target countries."
Iran is subject to an almost complete economic embargo by the US, which includes a prohibition on all imports, including those from its banking, shipping, and oil industries.
Tehran is one of the biggest economies that has not yet adopted cryptocurrencies. In 2008, cryptocurrencies were introduced as a tool for payments intended to undermine governmental control over finance and economies.
According to a research conducted last year, Iran accounted for 4.5% of all Bitcoin mining activity, in part because to the low cost of electricity there. Hundreds of millions of dollars could be made by Iran through cryptocurrency mining, which could be used to pay for imports and lessen the effects of sanctions.
Because of their inherent volatility, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are unsuitable for large-scale transactions.
The 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal was revived on Monday, according to the European Union, after four days of indirect negotiations between US and Iranian officials concluded in Vienna.
Iran restricted its nuclear program in accordance with the 2015 agreement in exchange for respite from US, EU, and UN sanctions. But after the nuclear agreement was broken apart by the then-US President Donald Trump in 2018 and severe US sanctions were reinstated, Tehran began going beyond the agreement's nuclear restrictions roughly a year later.
One of the world's poorest nations, the Central African Republic (CAR), has recently adopted cryptocurrency. In April, it became the first African nation to recognize bitcoin as legal tender, and this month it introduced its own digital currency.
El Salvador likewise made bitcoin legal tender last year, but the initiative has been met with opposition from the general population due to falling cryptocurrency prices.
