Iran Defies Trump, Bitcoin Helps but Causes Power Outages
Economic News Blog, Kodoom.com
With the imminent departure of Donald Trump, Iranian currency has gained against the US dollar and reversed its free fall, which happened throughout 2020 in part due to the pandemic and strict economic sanctions imposed by Trump. One US dollar is now trading in Tehran for 23000 toomans, about 15% less than the levels it was trading just a month ago.
The steep valuation of Bitcoin in world markets seems to be also giving Iranian Bitcoin factories a boon against traditional global banking channels which are still mainly controlled by the United States. Earlier this week, Iranian authorities blamed widespread power outages on fuel shortages impacting powerplants but also on thousands of small Bitcoin factories across the country as well as a mega extraction site built by China in the city of Rafsanjan. One underground Bitcoin extractor has reportedly received a 40 billion tooman electric bill (about $2 million)!
Last week, the government acknowledged that at least $100 Billion of Iranian assets are frozen overseas due to sanctions imposed by President Trump, including more than $9 Billion owed to Iran by South Korea in payments due for oil imports from Iran.
Interestingly, expatriate Iranians, among them extremely wealthy individuals, own an estimated $2 trillion in assets overseas. Many miss their birthplace and maintain cultural and family ties to the country but are unwilling to return assets or start businesses inside Iran due to the strict theological restrictions, such as mandatory head veil for women, imposed by conservative clerics ruling the country.
