Iran has now joined the ranks of countries allowing crypto payments for residents. One of the building blocks behind cryptocurrencies was for them to be used as a method of payment but there is still a lot of hurdles to this. Countries like El Salvador have fully embraced the crypto dream. However, others remain in either a dark or a grey area around this, although not for much longer. One of those that have made moves to allow its citizens to enjoy the benefits of crypto payments in Iran.
Iran Approves Crypto Payments
The Iranian Central Bank, alongside its Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, has recently approved the use of crypto payments for merchants in the country. The decision comes after a meeting between the bank and the ministry which would allow local merchants to settle trade transactions using crypto.
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In what was a joint foreign currency working group between the ministry and the bank, the mechanism was finalized as a way to help merchants carry out foreign trade settlements and circumvent the sanctions imposed against the country in 2012, that has now spanned almost a decade, With crypto, merchants and businesses will be able to carry out trade with their foreign counterparts without having to worry about the sanction.
Iran whose relationship with crypto has been shaky at best had turned to cryptocurrencies, which provides a much better option for foreign deal settlements for importers and exporters to carry out trade.
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More information is expected to come out regarding the mechanism which will shed light on how international crypto payments would work for the country. “We are finalizing a mechanism for operations of the system,” said Alireza Peyman-Pak, Iran’s deputy minister of Industry, Mine and Trade and head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, TPO. Adding that the mechanism should be finalized “within the next two weeks.”
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This new mechanism would allow local businesses and merchants in Iran to trade internationally regardless of the fiat currency, which can be converted to cryptocurrencies and used to pay the seller or the importer, the Iranian government said.
“All economic actors can use these cryptocurrencies. The trader takes the ruble, the rupee, the dollar, or the euro, which he can use to obtain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which is a form of credit and can pass it on to the seller or importer. […] Since the cryptocurrency market is done on credit, our economic actors can easily use it and use it widely.”
Iran’s stance on crypto has fluctuated in the past. In 2020, the country had approved about 1,000 mining licenses for crypto miners. However, in July 2021, a bill was proposed by members of the Iranian parliament for the complete ban of cryptocurrency payments in the region.
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