Iran takes sting out of sanctions with bitcoin
 

Mining

Around 4.5 percent of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, allowing the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies that can be used to buy imports and lessen the impact of sanctions, a new study has found.

According to figures from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, Iran's bitcoin production would amount to revenues close to $1 billion a year.

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

Elliptic estimates are based on data collected from bitcoin miners by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance up to April 2020 and statements from Iran's state-controlled power generation company in January that up to 600 MW of electricity was being consumed by miners.

The study said: "Iran has recognised that bitcoin mining represents an attractive opportunity for a sanctions-hit economy suffering from a shortage of hard cash, but with a surplus of oil and natural gas."

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