The good news of the last week is that Bitcoin (BTC) continued to review, making around 10% up from Jan.16 to Jan. 23. But it has yet to change a worrying trend of crypto companies making headlines due to their troubles with the law. The United States Department of Justice launched a “major international cryptocurrency enforcement action” against China-based crypto firm Bitzlato and arrested its founder, Anatoly Legkodymov. The enforcers consider Bitzlato to be a “primary money laundering concern” connected to Russian illicit finance. While the exchange attracted little attention until the DOJ action, it had received $206 million from …

The Central Bank of Iran is reportedly cooperating with the Russian government to jointly issue a new cryptocurrency backed by gold. Iran is working with Russia to create a “token of the Persian Gulf region” that would serve as a payment method in foreign trade, Russia’s news agency Vedomosti reported on Jan. 15. The token is projected to be issued in the form of a stablecoin backed by gold, according to Alexander Brazhnikov, executive director of the Russian Association of Crypto Industry and Blockchain (RACIB). The stablecoin aims to enable cross-border transactions instead of fiat currencies like the United States’ …

Iranian authorities seized numerous crypto mining equipment over the past two years, citing stress on energy grids during winter. Now, a court ordered the release of crypto-mining equipment that was previously seized as a measure to conserve energy. Since 2021, Iran’s Organization for Collection and Sale of State-Owned Property (OCSSOP) has seized mining equipment — both authorized and unauthorized — due to looming power shortage concerns. However, the authorities had a change of heart amid winter as they ordered the release of the seizure. As explained by Abdolmajid Eshtehadi, the head of Iran's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance: “Currently …

As many countries, entities and even individuals face international sanctions, the crypto industry seeks to find its place among increasing regulations. Digital currencies have often been mentioned as an avenue for those subject to sanctions to divert them, such as in the recent case of Russia. In such instances, exchanges and other industry players need to understand where they stand compliance-wise. Research out of Harvard even suggested that central banks can use Bitcoin (BTC) to fight off sanctions. Speaking to Cointelegraph's managing editor Alex Cohen at the Israel Crypto Conference, Chainalysis head of sanctions Andrew Fierman said sanctions are nuanced …

A member of the Iranian parliament has told local media the government plans to impose new punishments on women who do not wear a hijab in public, with individuals who refuse to comply after two warnings possibly having their bank accounts frozen. Hossein Jalali, a member of the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, told Iranian media on Dec. 6 that “unveiled persons” would be sent an SMS urging them to respect the law and wear a hijab before entering a “warning phase” and finally having their bank account potentially frozen. "In the third stage, the bank account of …

The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, has announced a settlement with crypto exchange Kraken for “apparent violations of sanctions against Iran.” In a Nov. 28 announcement, OFAC said Kraken had agreed to pay more than $362,000 as part of a deal “to settle its potential civil liability” related to violating the United States’ sanctions against Iran. The U.S.-based crypto exchange will also be investing $100,000 into sanctions compliance controls as part of the agreement with Treasury. “Due to Kraken’s failure to timely implement appropriate geolocation tools, including an automated internet protocol (IP) address blocking …

The Central Bank of Iran will make a pilot launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) on Sept. 22, the Iranian Chamber of Commerce has announced. The so-called “crypto-rial” has been in the planning stage for several years. The launch of the crypto rial was originally planned for November, according to the Chamber, which said the CBDC was intended “to help improve financial inclusion and function as a powerful tool for the CBI to compete with other stable coins globally.” It added that experts within the country had concerns about businesses’ preparedness to use a CBDC, the public’s understanding …

With the Trade Ministry officially approving the use of cryptocurrencies for foreign trade, Iran will become the first-of-a-kind adopter in the world. The obvious problem with the news is that the country’s innovative policy obviously aims at circumventing financial sanctions that have been hampering its participation in the global economy for many years. These circumstances set an ambivalent tone for Iran’s experiment — while for some, it could prove crypto’s emancipating ability to shirk the all-too-real hegemony of the United States political will and international financial institutions that enforce it, hardline crypto skeptics could get the proof they need for …

The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has added 10 individuals, 2 entities, and several crypto addresses allegedly tied to an Iranian ransomware group to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, effectively making it illegal for U.S. persons and companies to engage with them. In a Wednesday announcement, the U.S. Treasury said the individuals and companies in the ransomware group were affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the country’s military. The group allegedly “conducted a varied range of malicious cyber-enabled activities,” including compromising the systems of a U.S.-based children’s hospital in June 2021 …

Iran’s Industry, Mines and Trade ministry has approved the use of cryptocurrency for imports into the country amid ongoing international trade sanctions. According to local news reports, trade minister Reza Fatemi Amin confirmed that detailed regulations have been approved outlining the use of cryptocurrencies for trade and supplying fuel and electricity to Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto miners in the country. Amin outlined the regulatory change at an automotive industry exhibition on Aug. 28, just a week after the country had placed a first-ever import order for vehicles, to the tune of $10 million, using cryptocurrency as a payment method. The …

In the aftermath of the first officially reported crypto payment in the sanctioned country’s foreign trade, Iran’s importers point to the necessity of stable regulations to continue trade via cryptocurrencies. On Aug. 20, local reports cited the head of Iran’s Importers Group and Representatives of Foreign Companies (Import Association), Alireza Managhebi, who emphasized that stable regulations and infrastructure should be prepared to be able to successfully use cryptocurrencies for imports: “The question is, has the government developed consistent regulations for the cryptocurrency uses so that they will not change within two months and the businessmen active in this field will …

Struggling through decades of economic sanctions, Iran has placed its first international import order using $10 million worth of cryptocurrency, according to a senior government trade official. News that the Islamic republic placed its first import order using crypto was shared by Iran’s Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine & Trade Alireza Peyman-Pak in a Twitter post on Aug. 9. While the official did not disclose any details about the cryptocurrency used or the imported goods involved, Peyman-Pak said that the $10 million order represents the first of many international trades to be settled with crypto, with plans to ramp this …