Iran approves Bitcoin, crypto import payments – Bitcoin Magazine

According to a report from the country’s state-run news agency Tasnim, lawmakers in Iran have passed a law that sets the legal groundwork for the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment for imports.

Reza Fatemi Amin, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, was quoted as saying that the new law authorizes government usage of cryptocurrencies, tackles supply concerns over fuel and electricity prices for mining, and establishes rules on cryptocurrencies.

Reiterating that the license came from a joint decision between the Ministry of Industry and the Central Bank, Minister Fatemi Amin may have hinted at cross-departmental agreement on bitcoin’s potential as a global payment system.

And as Fatemi Amin pointed out, local companies can now use bitcoin to import vehicles instead of the dollar or euro. Tasnim noted the timing of the news, noting that it follows the 9th, when the president of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said the country filed its first import order handled with bitcoin. According to reports, the amount of the order was more than $10 million.

Iran has outlawed bitcoin mining due to power grid safety concerns since May of last year. In the same month, the Iranian central bank also forbade the exchange of digital currencies that were mined in other countries. After being removed in October due to power grid concerns, the mining ban was reinstated in December of the same year.

One could therefore conclude that Iran is pursuing such a broad reform agenda in order to adopt a permanent and unwavering position on bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies.