Iran Allows Financial Institutions to Pay for Imports with Bitcoin

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has allowed banks and other licensed financial institutions to use cryptocurrency to pay for imports, according to Financial Tribune citing the regulator.

The CBI has required the use of only digital assets mined by authorized miners. This activity was legalized in Iran in July 2019.

A year earlier Iran had been hit by US sanctions. The CBI and other financial institutions were отключены from the interbank system SWIFT — this made dollar settlements for imports unavailable, which spurred the country’s interest in cryptocurrencies.

In July 2020, the government required miners operating in the country to register with disclosure of identity, type, and number of installed equipment. The authorities allowed power plants to work with mining centers provided they hold a license and comply with tariffs.

In October it became known that Iran approved a mechanism for paying imports using Bitcoins obtained by the central bank, mined by local miners.

In January 2021, journalists found that many of the mining farms in Iran were owned by Chinese companies, which were trying to hide their presence.