Iran’s president has tasked officials at the central bank and ministries of energy, communications and IT with drafting plans for a national cryptocurrency mining strategy. As reported by the Iranian news website ArzDigital on May 22, officials were briefed during the 137th session of Iran’s economic coordination headquarters earlier this week, chaired by President Hassan Rouhani. The development comes shortly after the Iranian government announced a redenomination policy for the country’s fiat currency, the rial, in a bid to tackle crippling chronic inflation. Digital currencies closely watched by the Iranian government Earlier this week, Iran had also moved to include …
According to an investigative report from RunRun.es, Venezuela intends to increase its use of Bitcoin to pay for imports to bypass financial sanctions imposed by the United States. RunRun.es, which was founded by Venezuelan investigative journalist Nelson Bocaranda, cited anonymous sources from the country’s central bank who claim that “payments to companies from allied countries such as Iran and Turkey have been made using Bitcoin.” It is unclear, what these imports consist of, however, Turkey and Iran currently provide the country food and fuel in exchange for gold. Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's government has promoted its state-issued, purportedly oil-backed ‘Petro’ …
Crypto mining in Iran is set to become even bigger with the government giving the green light for power plants to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The news is the latest piece of positive development on the virtual currency mining front to come out of the country in the last year. Since legalizing crypto mining back in July 2019, Iranian authorities have sought to ensure market participants operate only after obtaining the required licenses. By allowing power plants to engage in cryptocurrency mining, Iran is joining other emerging hubs as the global “hash wars” gathers pace. Iran has seen an …
The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has added 10 individuals, 2 entities, and several crypto addresses allegedly tied to an Iranian ransomware group to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, effectively making it illegal for U.S. persons and companies to engage with them. In a Wednesday announcement, the U.S. Treasury said the individuals and companies in the ransomware group were affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the country’s military. The group allegedly “conducted a varied range of malicious cyber-enabled activities,” including compromising the systems of a U.S.-based children’s hospital in June 2021 …
As many countries, entities and even individuals face international sanctions, the crypto industry seeks to find its place among increasing regulations. Digital currencies have often been mentioned as an avenue for those subject to sanctions to divert them, such as in the recent case of Russia. In such instances, exchanges and other industry players need to understand where they stand compliance-wise. Research out of Harvard even suggested that central banks can use Bitcoin (BTC) to fight off sanctions. Speaking to Cointelegraph's managing editor Alex Cohen at the Israel Crypto Conference, Chainalysis head of sanctions Andrew Fierman said sanctions are nuanced …