Iran has made its first international import order worth $10 million in crypto, according to a top government trade official, after being subject to decades of economic restrictions.
Alireza Peyman-Pak, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, announced on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic has placed its first import order using crypto.
Peyman-Pak stated that the $10 million order represents the first of many international trades to be settled with cryptocurrency, with plans to ramp this up over the next month, even though the official withheld any information regarding the crypto used or the imported goods involved. He noted:
“By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries.”
Iran was the nation with the highest sanctions up until February of this year. According to Trading Economics, Iran imports the majority of its goods from China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and Turkey.
However, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, Russia now has the title of most-sanctioned country in the world.
The Islamic country started accepting crypto as early as 2017. In October 2020, it modified previously issued legislation to allow crypto to be used for funding imports.
Iranian miners received 30 operating licenses from the Iranian Trade Ministry in June 2021 to mine crypto, which must subsequently be sold to Iran’s national bank. Iran is currently paying import bills with the currencies it mined.
Iran was also considering a CBDC based on the Hyperledger Fabric protocol in February as a way to upgrade its current financial system.