Iran begins to circumvent US sanctions with the help of cryptocurrency

Tehran is trying to circumvent US sanctions that have damaged the Iranian economy, this was reported on August 9 by Reuters with reference to the private agency Tasnim. The republic’s policy is aimed at abandoning the use of the “dollar-dominated” financial system and moving to trade with other countries that have fallen under the sanctions, such as Russia. What kind of cryptocurrency was used by Iran is not specified in the material.

Iran has been under US sanctions for several decades. In particular, the import of almost all Iranian goods is banned, including products from the country’s oil, banking and shipping sectors.

Reuters notes that 4.5% of the total number of bitcoins in the world was created in Iran, including due to low electricity prices in the country. Cryptocurrency mining can help a country earn hundreds of millions of dollars, which can be used to purchase imports and mitigate the effects of sanctions.

Under the 2015 deal, Iran limited its nuclear program in exchange for exemptions from US, EU and UN sanctions. However, former US President Donald Trump backed out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and reinstated tough US sanctions. In response, Tehran stopped fulfilling the terms of the nuclear deal.

Since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin has invented a way to transfer money without the control of any country or government. Yesterday, Reza Fatemi Amin, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade and Head of the Iran Trade Development Organization, legitimized the use of cryptocurrency for the import of goods to Iran. Reza also announced on his Twitter stating it to be the first import through digital currency. The transaction amounting to Ten Million Dollars will certainly be a milestone for the future.

Reza Fatemi Amin said on Monday that the regulations for using cryptocurrencies instead of dollars and euros were finalized by the administration on Sunday, reports IranIntl .

Also, at the end of May, the Minister of Trade and Industry of Iran, Reza Fatemi Amin, said that Russia and Iran intended to conduct trade on the basis of barter. If the republic is primarily interested in zinc, lead, and alumina (for metallurgists and miners), then Moscow would like to receive car parts and gas turbines.

The history of Bitcoin in Iran

Bitcoin in Iran has been welcomed by people just like in other countries of the world. The name and reputation of Bitcoin were also heard in Iran in 2009 and 2010. But the government had no specific guidelines regarding this new currency (digital). Since Bitcoin mining requires a lot of electricity, the government took measures to identify rigs that used electricity illegally. But with time, the Iranian government has realized the opportunities available in new digital currency (bitcoin) and announced the legitimacy of digital currency in exports and imports.

Bitcoin mining is much more profitable compared to exporting oil and petrochemical products. This Bitcoin mining is a Gen-X business for millennials and tech giants in Iran. The government has announced that the mined bitcoins must be sold to the central bank. On the other hand, several virtual exchanges have been introduced by the central bank to buy and sell bitcoins.

Nobitex is an official Iranian exchange affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which operates widely in Iran and has a high volume of transactions. Due to US sanctions, this exchange has not yet been able to be offered in CoinMarketCap and does not have international credit.

Shahram Jazayeri, an Iranian entrepreneur who showed a positive reaction to the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry since 2010 with the emergence of Bitcoin, was one of the first people in Iran who paid money to the government in his interest. Also, some reports emerged that Shahram is the one who tried to create the first Iranian digital currency in 2015. He created a coin with his name on it the “Shahram Coin”. For the same reasons, he was arrested again in Iran in the summer of 2017.

In Shahram’s words “no one can stand against this new industry and it should be used with awareness and support, and this is a fact“.

READ: Who is Shahram Jazayeri, an Iranian billionaire?

Shahram Jazayeri is known to be the first person in Iran to create a Bitcoin fork in 2017. His young ally, Habib Alejalil, a millennial (17-year-old), lead Shahram Jazayeri’s blockchain technical team. This young Iranian genius [Habib] effectively developed a powerful fork with high scalability. This became a cornerstone in the history of the growing technology trend in Iran. Today, Habib Alejalil is one of the prominent names in Iranian crypto. He is found in many top crypto events and also participated in several cryptocurrency projects. He established his exchange in Estonia and refuses to provide services to Iranians.