A think tank with connections to the Iranian President’s office has released a document that underscored the need to use cryptocurrencies in overcoming sanctions against the country and generate additional revenue.
The Iranian Presidential Center for Strategic Studies (IPCSS) report disclosed that “cryptocurrency extraction” could provide economic advantages to multiple sectors of the struggling economy, The Iran Wire reported.
According to the report, the Islamic Republic could potentially earn $2 million per day and $700 million a year in direct revenue from cryptocurrencies.
Crypto can strengthen Iran’s jobs market
The authors of the study, based on a local media report, say that the country can boost its jobs market if it enables the creation of more bitcoin mining facilities.
Digital currency miners, the report said, also have a fundamental need for energy or electricity, and for every megawatt of electricity consumed, almost 10 locals may be directly employed.
“If big mining farms are established, the need to employ manpower… in relation to hardware and software equipment will rise, which leads to more job opportunities in other sectors,” Coindesk quoted the authors as saying in the report.
Other benefits of virtual currency “extraction” may include strengthening the export sector of technical and engineering services linked with the production of cryptocurrencies.
In justifying the recommendation, the document notes that regulated cryptocurrency activity in Iran might also “help to prevent the foreign currency from leaving the country.”
A notable player in crypto mining
The so-called rogue state has been clamping down on virtual currency mining farms, but the government also wants to use crypto mining to bolster the sanctioned republic’s revenue stream.
Iran blamed crypto miners for its recent power outages. In January, Iranian authorities reportedly shut down 1,620 unregistered mining farms and seized 45,000 computers and mining equipment.
Iran is a competitive player in the bitcoin mining industry, and last year it contributed nearly 5% of the world’s bitcoin hashpower, a study by the University of Cambridge shows.
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