Iran is hoping to sidestep US sanctions by becoming the first country in the world to use the digital currency to pay for imports.
Stung by never-ending US sanctions, Iran has legalised Bitcoin as a reserve currency, and is looking at integrating the cryptocurrency into its struggling national economy.
Iranian authorities say they have already handed out 1,000 Bitcoin mining licences to three power plants to provide energy for mining firms, requiring the locally mined tokens to be sold to the Central Bank of Iran to help pay for imports.
Iranian banks lost access to the global banking system when Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, and imposed further sanctions. The latest round of sanctions was imposed on the 8th of October, targeting 18 Iranian banks, and the Iranian economy has subsequently suffered from high inflation rates and further currency depreciation.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjppx3/iran-bitcoin-us-sanctions
