Iranians turn to Bitcoin as U.S. sanctions squeeze national economy

This undated photo shows boxes of machinery used in Bitcoin"mining" operations that were confiscated by police in Nazarabad, Iran. Squeezed by sanctions and fueled by subsidized electricity, Iranians and others lured to the country increasingly are turning to Bitcoin and other digital cryptocurrencies. Some mine for the currency.

As a result, computers around the world “mine” the data, meaning they use highly complex algorithms to verify transactions. The verified transactions, called blocks, are then added to a public record, known as the blockchain. Any time “miners” add a new block to the blockchain, they are rewarded with a payment in bitcoins.

But they acknowledge they do this to make some money at a time when Iran’s currency, the rial, tumbled from 32,000 rials to US$1 at the time of the 2015 nuclear deal, to around 120,000 rials to US$1 now. Tabnak, a hard-line news website associated with a former commander of the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted three ayatollahs describing Bitcoin as either problematic or “haram,” meaning forbidden. Islam prescribes strict rules about finance.

Source: Digital Coin News (digitalcoinnews.net)

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