Iran uses cryptocurrency to import goods for the first time

Karimi and Associates Law Firm represents according to Reuters:

Iran has made its first official import order using cryptocurrency this week, a move that could enable the Islamic Republic to dodge U.S. sanctions.

The order, worth $10 million, was the first step to enable the country to trade through digital assets that bypass the dollar-dominated global financial system and to trade with other countries similarly limited by U.S. sanctions, such as Russia. The officials didn’t specify which cryptocurrency was used in the transaction.

“By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be extensively used in foreign trade with target countries,” an official from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade said on Twitter.

Tehran is one of the largest economies yet to embrace cryptocurrency technology. Last year, a study found that 4.5% of all bitcoin mining was taking place in Iran, partly because of the country’s inexpensive electricity. The mining of cryptocurrency could aid Iran to earn millions of dollars that can be used to buy imports and lessen the impact of sanctions.

The European Union on Monday said it put forward a “final” text to revive the 2015 JCPOA as four days of indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials wrapped up in Vienna. Under the 2015 agreement, Iran limited its nuclear program in return for a break from U.S., EU, and U.N. sanctions. But former U.S. President Donald Trump backed out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and restored strict U.S. sanctions, motivating Tehran to start violating the agreement’s nuclear limits about a year later.