Parliament report: 700 Bitcoins worth about $40 million are exchanged in Iran daily

The official report of the Parliament's Economic Commission estimates the annual cryptocurrency mining in Iran at $1.1 billion and says that 700 Bitcoins are bought and sold informally daily.

According to the report, which was read in the open court of the parliament on Tuesday, September 13, by Gholamreza Marhaba, spokesman for the Economic Commission, the value of Bitcoins that are bought and sold daily is about $40 million, and people are widely interested and active in this market, while none of the platforms for exchanging these cryptocurrencies in the country are licensed.

The parliamentary report emphasizes that the use of cryptocurrencies to reduce sanctions is an opportunity, but the use of cryptocurrencies "in domestic transactions weakens the governance of the rial and reduces the authority of the central bank" and, because it cannot be controlled, can "create the basis for damage."

Mohammad Reza Pourabrahimi, head of the Economic Commission of the 10th Parliament, also said on May 13 of this year that between three and five trillion tomans are traded daily through cryptocurrency exchange websites in the country and that stopping their activities in the country would be a "mistake."

It seems that Islamic Republic officials are still confused and have not been able to reach a clear and planned decision regarding this new technology, despite claims that cryptocurrency is being used to circumvent sanctions.

The relationship between Bitcoin mining and widespread power outages has also been a topic of discussion in recent months. Officials in the Islamic Republic have refused to provide clear information on the matter, but social media users' positions and indirect statements by some officials have indicated that Chinese companies are mining cryptocurrencies extensively in Iran due to the cheap electricity in Iran.

Source: Radio Farda