Iranian politicians are increasingly eyeing Bitcoin and the industry behind it as a viable driver of its economy.
This week Iranian lawmaker, representative Mohammad Hossein Farhangi (Tabriz) added to another instance of politicians courting the industry, according to the Tasnim news agency.
On Tuesday, Farhangi spoke to the national parliament calling on the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, to look into Bitcoin. This is because Bitcoin is a “good opportunity for the country,” and the financial institutions should “Take the issue of bitcoin seriously.”
Iranian Politicians look to Mining Industry
The nation has been increasing its shift towards the cryptocurrency industry. Their leader Hassan Rouhani called for a Muslim cryptocurrency in December last year and the nation has its own digital currency called the Petra.
More recently, the President put his backing behind a national crypto mining strategy. Iran has increasingly seen the cryptocurrency mining industry as a good driver for the economy, relaxing tax laws for them and allowing easier access to the cheap electricity in the country.
Bitcoin mining industry businesses are receiving licenses like iMiner, a Turkey-based company. Other Chinese mining companies have also looked to make the move to Iran for the emerging industry. According to Bitcoin Mining Map, Iran has a 4% of the Bitcoin total hash rate.
Iran is constantly looking at new and diverse ways to invigorate their economy due to the crippling economic sanctions which make them a pariah state for trade. No other country faces more sanctions from the US than Iran.
As a result, numerous industries are unable to work with the nation, with the Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, currently under house arrest in Canada for allegedly doing so.
That has not stopped Iran from continuing, even amid Coronavirus concerns and other security issues. Sanctions and foreign aggression has never stopped the Iranian people. They have been fighting it for decades.
Now, they have a new tool for the fight. Cryptocurrencies. Quite how the Western powers will react to this emerging issue as their adversaries increasingly turn to the industry remains to be seen.
