Iran Pays For Import Orders Using Crypto

Despite being subject to a number of decades’ worth of economic constraints, Iran has reportedly placed its first foreign import order in crypto worth a total of $10 million, according to a senior government trade official.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has successfully placed its first import order using cryptocurrency, according to Alireza Peyman-Pak, the deputy minister of industry, mines, and commerce in Iran, who made the announcement on Tuesday.

Although Iran did not disclose the crypto used or the imported products, Peyman-Pak said that the $10 million transaction was the first of many foreign deals to be handled using cryptocurrency and that the practice will be expanded over the next month. He said that:

By the end of September, the usage of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will have reached a widespread level in international commerce with the nations that are the focus of this study.

Up until February of this year, Iran was the country that was subject to the most restrictive sanctions. Trading Economics cites China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and Turkey as the top four countries from which Iran purchases the bulk of its commodities for import.

On the other hand, as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the country currently holds the record for the most sanctions of any nation in the world.

The mostly Muslim nation is prepared to start accepting cryptocurrencies as early as 2017. It changed laws that had previously been issued to make it possible to utilize cryptocurrency for financing imports beginning in October of 2020.

The Trade Ministry of Iran issued thirty operational licenses to Iranian miners in June 2021, allowing them to mine cryptocurrencies, the proceeds of which are required to be sold to Iran’s central bank. Iran is now making payments toward its import bills using currencies that it has created.

In February, Iran was also exploring implementing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) based on the Hyperledger Fabric protocol as a means to modernize its existing method of handling its monetary affairs.

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