Iran makes first official import order using cryptocurrencies

Iran made its first official import order using cryptocurrencies this week, according to the semi-official Tasnim agency on Tuesday, a move that could allow the Islamic Republic to circumvent U.S. sanctions that have crippled the economy.

The order, worth $10 million, was a first step towards allowing the country to trade through digital assets that bypass the dollar-dominated global financial system and trade with other countries that are similarly limited by US sanctions, such as Russia. The agency didn't say which criptocurrency was used in the transaction.

A ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade official said on Twitter that the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries by the end of September.

The US imposes an almost total economic embargo on Iran, including a ban on all imports from the country's oil, banking and shipping sectors.

Tehran is one of the largest economies to embrace cryptocurrencies, born in 2008 as a payment tool that aims to erode governmental control over finance and economies.

A study found that 4.5 per cent of all bitcoin mining in Iran took place last year, partly due to the country's cheap electricity. The mining of criptocurrency could help Iran earn hundreds of millions of dollars that can be used to buy imports and lessen the impact of sanctions.

Cryptocurrencies such asBitcoin are highly volatile, making them unpractical for large-scale payments.

Four days of indirect talks between the US and Iranian officials wrapped up in Vienna on Monday, the European Union said it put forward a final text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Under the 2015 agreement, Iran curbed its nuclear program in exchange for US, EU and U.N. sanctions. US President Donald Trump reneged on the nuclear deal in 2018 and restored harsh US sanctions, prompting Tehran to start violating the agreement's nuclear limits a year later.

The Central African Republic CAR, one of the poorest countries in the world, has also adopted the concept of criptocurrency. It became the first African state to make bitcoins legal tender in April, and launched its own digital coin last month.

El Salvadoran adopted the idea of digital currency last year, even though the project has been stricken by public scepticism due to the tumbling prices of digital currency.