Report: Iran's bitcoin mining revenue could exceed $1 billion a year

While Iran's regulatory relationship with Bitcoin has been hit and miss, a new report from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reveals that regulated mining could bring in more than $1 billion in annual revenue and help the country circumvent U.S. imposed economic sanctions.

An excerpt from the report published yesterday states that research shows that Iran now accounts for 4.5% of the total global Bitcoin mining operation, generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, which is used in particular to circumvent the oil embargo.

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"The United States has imposed a near-total economic embargo on Iran, including banning all imports of Iranian goods and sanctioning Iran's financial institutions," the report said. "Iran's oil exports have plummeted by 70% over the past decade, putting it in a serious crisis. period of recession, soaring unemployment and civil unrest."

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“Faced with these sanctions, Iran turned to an unlikely solution — Bitcoin mining.”

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The report notes that cheap and abundant oil means energy-intensive mining operations are relatively inexpensive for Iran. As a result, foreign investors play key roles in the country's expanding crypto economy, sometimes with the help of the Iranian military.

The report reads: “Several Chinese companies have obtained mining licenses and are already operating in the country. The companies say they have established good relations with the ‘Iranian army,’ and a particularly large mine in the Rafsanjan Special Economic Zone is reportedly The mine facility was built in cooperation with a 'military organization'."

Eventually, the bitcoins produced by these state-sanctioned mines could be used to help the country sell oil through proxies: excess energy and oil are used to produce bitcoins, which can then be sold on global markets.

The report also noted that this dynamic has "almost become an official policy". In late April, Iran passed laws allowing banking entities to use cryptocurrencies to purchase imported goods, and then in May, the Iranian government appeared poised to tighten its grip on cryptocurrencies and attempted to pass a ban on the use of bitcoins mined in foreign countries. Laws for Import Payments.

Although bitcoin now appears to be a key component of Iran's global trade strategy, the country's official relationship with bitcoin has not always been good. In January, Iranian officials tried to blame local power outages on illegal mining operations (although experts said a dilapidated power grid was the more likely culprit), while yesterday reports emerged that the country was using intelligence agencies to hunt down illegal mining operations. field.

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness. In view of the fact that China has not yet issued policies and regulations related to digital assets, users in mainland China are advised to be cautious in digital currency investment.

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