The Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry predicted that his country would expand the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts in global trade. Cryptocurrency exchange Nuri believes the provisional bankruptcy process is the best basis to restructure the company in the long term.
The government of Iran recently placed its first official import purchase through cryptocurrencies, a crucial step toward adopting crypto assets.
Alireza Peyman-Pak, the Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade and the head of the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), recently confirmed those details. That way, Iran officially issued its first import purchase of USD 10 million worth of crypto assets.
The Iranian official said they successfully placed import orders at USD 10 million worth of cryptocurrencies. He predicted they would expand the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts in global trade with target nations by late September.
Iran has prepared to use cryptocurrencies for payments in foreign trade for over a year and officially confirmed it in early 2022. In 2021, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) told authorized banking institutions and exchange providers to use crypto assets. The only condition was that cryptocurrency miners operating legally in Iran for payments of imported products developed them.
Since the Iranian government has always favored the cryptocurrency mining market, they accredited it as a marketplace in 2019. The Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Commerce has already issued over 1,000 licenses to traders and organizations that mine crypto assets.
However, there are significant power shortages in the Iranian electrical power sector because some illegal miners use additional electricity. Therefore, the operations of licensed miners have suffered repeated disruptions to protect against repeated blackouts.
In September, the Iranian authorities seized over 220,000 miners and shut down nearly 6,000 illegal mining farms. Besides, the Iranian government plans to approve new laws to maximize penalties for illicit cryptocurrency mining to solve this issue.
A German Cryptocurrency Exchange Declares Bankruptcy Due to Insolvency
German cryptocurrency exchange Nuri recently filed for bankruptcy under the law in a Berlin court. They decided to do so to regulate the liquidity of the company.
The COVID-19 pandemic-induced macroeconomic challenges, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Terra ecosystem crash, the considerable boost in the industry, and the possible default on Celsius Network may have led to that decision.
Nuri said excessive movement is the safest route for bankruptcy, so they think bankruptcy proceedings will not affect user assets.
According to the platform, the provisional bankruptcy process is the best basis to restructure the company in the long term. They believe that nothing will change and they will continue to do their job.
In late May, Nuri laid off twenty percent of its employees. The platform has raised EUR 42.3 million (equivalent to around USD 43.2 million) through eight funding rounds from 13 investors. These included Earlybird Venture Capital and Sony Financial Ventures.
By Alexander Salazar
