Iran recently used crypto to pay for goods that would be imported into the country. Although the cryptocurrency used in the purchase was not disclosed, Alireza Peyman-Pak, head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) noted that the ordered goods were worth about ten million dollars.
Iran’s First Official Crypto-funded Import
This is the first time Iran has used cryptocurrencies to settle its foreign trade and the country intends to continue settling international trades with digital assets.
Peyman-Pak noted that by the end of September 2022, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be extensively used in foreign trade with countries that support the initiative.
“This week, the first official import order registration worth 10 million dollars was successfully completed using cryptocurrency. By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries,” Peyman-Pak tweeted on Tuesday.
Iran Supports Crypto Mining But Hates Illegal Crypto Miners
Meanwhile, the Iranian government has continued to put forth measures to control the massive amount of energy that crypto mining consumes in the country.
Iran is one of the countries that have cheap electricity prices, thus attracting several crypto miners from different countries. But since legalizing crypto mining in 2019, Iran has noted that the computing process is threatening the country’s local power grid.
As such, regulations have been enforced to control mining activities in the country. For instance, miners are prevented from operating during the peak of energy consumption in the country. Also, depending on weather conditions, they are required to pay a specific amount of funds for the energy they use.
But the Iranian government notes that these rules seem not to be adhered to, estimating that about 85% of crypto mining activities in Iran are illegal. As such, stiff measures such as confiscating illegal mining machines in the country have been put in place. This year, however, Iran has become stricter in its measures by introducing new regulations, one of which will see illegal crypto miners that are caught, put behind bars for about three to five years.
