PRESS RELEASE. Singapore, September 22, 2021 – Alchemy Pay is now using Chainlink Price Feeds to enable users to buy crypto on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and obtain loans in leading DeFi lending platforms directly from wallets using Alchemy Pay’s ERC-20 utility token, ACH.

Chainlink Price Feeds help assure users that they are receiving fair market exchange rates when purchasing assets directly via their wallets on DEXs like Uniswap, Sushiswap, and ForTube using their ACH, as well as when collateralizing DeFi loans with ACH.

“It is crucial to the success of our payment gateway solution that the value of ACH is accurately shared throughout the ecosystem,” said Alchemy Pay CEO, John Tan. “The accuracy of Chainlink Price Feeds is underpinned by the robust technology Chainlink has deployed to protect against downtime and manipulation.”

Since the price of assets is not a data feed inherently available on the blockchain, a solution is needed to fetch it off the blockchain (off-chain) and then deliver it on-chain to be referenced when users make transactions involving different cryptocurrencies. It’s important that asset prices reflect a volume-weighted average from all trading environments, as opposed to just one exchange, to prevent inaccuracies. Chainlink decentralized oracle networks fetch and deliver the prices, as opposed to a centralized entity.

Following Alchemy Pay initial integration in 2020, Chainlink has become a key component in Alchemy Pay’s payment gateway system. In order to use Alchemy Pay’s payment facilitation services, retailers pledge ACH on the network. By collateralizing ACH, retailers are able to use Alchemy Pay systems to accept cryptocurrencies at their online and physical stores, which Alchemy Pay converts to the merchant’s required fiat currency. Transactions on the system complete in seconds at about 30% of the cost of legacy payment systems.

Alchemy Pay connects with merchants through major platforms like Shopify, Binance, and QFPay, which represent more than 2 million touchpoints worldwide.

Chainlink already helps secure tens of billions in value across DeFi and CeFi. Some of the benefits of Chainlink Price Feeds include:

• High-Quality Data — Chainlink Price Feeds source data from numerous premium data aggregators, leading to price data that’s aggregated from hundreds of exchanges, weighted by volume, and removing outliers and suspicious volumes.
• Secure Node Operators — Chainlink Price Feeds are secured by independent, security-reviewed, and Sybil-resistant oracle nodes run by leading blockchain developers with a strong track record for reliability, even during high gas prices and extreme network congestion.
• Decentralized Network — Chainlink Price Feeds are decentralized at the data source, oracle node, and oracle network levels, generating strong protections against downtime and tampering.
• Economy of Scale — Chainlink Price Feeds benefit from an economy of scale, where increasing adoption allows multiple projects to collectively use and fund shared oracle networks to fetch commonly required datasets. This allows DeFi projects to get premium data quality and robust oracle security for a fraction of the total cost of traditional feeds.

“Our hybrid crypto-fiat system enables both crypto and fiat for everyday digital payments – large or small – in a single system,” said Tan. “This requires an accurately represented ACH token moment by moment. We can depend on Chainlink for that.”

About Chainlink

Chainlink is the industry standard for building, accessing, and selling oracle services needed to power hybrid smart contracts on any blockchain. Chainlink oracle networks provide smart contracts with a way to reliably connect to any external API and leverage secure off-chain computations for enabling feature-rich applications. Chainlink currently secures tens of billions of dollars across DeFi, insurance, gaming, and other major industries, and offers global enterprises and leading data providers a universal gateway to all blockchains. Learn more about Chainlink by visiting chain.link or read the documentation at docs.chain.link. To discuss an integration, reach out to an expert.

About Alchemy Pay

Alchemy Pay is the inventor of the world’s first hybrid fiat and digital currency gateway solution for businesses and investors. Alchemy Pay powers seamless crypto and fiat acceptance for merchant networks, developers and financial institutions, and powers adoption of blockchain technology by making crypto investment and DeFi services readily accessible to consumers and institutions in the fiat economy. Today, Alchemy operates in 18 countries and regions and has touchpoints with more than 2 million merchants through partnerships with industry giants such as Binance, Shopify, Arcadier, QFPay and more.

 

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This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

AMC Theatres chain is exploring how to accept dogecoin alongside four other cryptocurrencies. AMC’s CEO conducted a poll on Twitter and was overwhelmed by the results and enthusiasm of the dogecoin community. “It’s clear that you think AMC should accept dogecoin. Now we need to figure out how to do that,” he said.

AMC Considers Adding Dogecoin to List of Accepted Cryptocurrencies

Following the announcement that AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. will accept bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, and ether for payments, CEO Adam Aron set up a poll on Twitter to ask the crypto community if his company should also accept the popular meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE).

AMC Entertainment Holdings is the largest movie exhibition company in the U.S., Europe, and the world. As of March 31, AMC owned or operated approximately 950 theaters and 10,500 screens globally.

Aron tweeted Tuesday:

I sincerely want to hear your opinion, via this Twitter Poll. By year-end 2021, AMC will take bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash for online payments. I hear from many on my Twitter feed we should accept dogecoin too. Do you think AMC should explore accepting dogecoin?

According to the poll results, 68.1% of the 140,388 voters said, “Yes, for sure do it.” A further 8.6% supported the addition of dogecoin as a payment method but said they “won’t use it.” Only 23.3% said “no” to the company accepting DOGE.

The CEO’s tweet was liked 14.9K times and retweeted 7.1K times at the time of writing. Among those who liked his tweet was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a dogecoin supporter who has been called the Dogefather. Musk recently revealed that he owned some DOGE. He and the NBA team Dallas Mavericks’ owner, Mark Cuban, said that dogecoin was the “strongest cryptocurrency for payments.”

Commenting on Musk liking his tweet, the AMC CEO wrote: “I never thought I would see this day. Elon Musk liked my Dogecoin Twitter Poll tweet. If you happen to see this tweet too Mr. Musk, congratulations on Tesla and Spacex. I have strived to be an innovator my entire career, but you sir are the epitome of innovation above all others.”

On Wednesday, Aron announced on Twitter that AMC is now exploring how to accept dogecoin. The CEO tweeted: “So Fascinating! Dogecoin Poll was by far my highest ever read tweet. In 24 hours, 4.2 million views, my most ever retweets, most ever replies. 140,000 votes 77% yes 23% no.” He added:

It’s clear that you think AMC should accept dogecoin. Now we need to figure out how to do that. Stay tuned!

Do you think AMC should accept dogecoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

On Tuesday, the fast food restaurant chain Burger King announced the company has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) campaign called the “Keep It Real Meals” initiative. The campaign is in collaboration with the NFT marketplace Sweet and will feature celebrities like Nelly, Anitta, and LILHUDDY.

Six Million Meal Boxes With Burger King NFTs

The NFT marketplace Sweet has revealed a partnership with fast food giant Burger King on Tuesday. Burger King has entered the NFT fray and the new campaign is quite different from other NFT concepts. The Burger King “Keep It Real Meals” initiative will showcase QR codes tethered to close to six million meal boxes. Scanning the QR codes will unlock a digital collectible and Burger King’s announcement says “collecting them can lead to unlocking bonus NFTs.”

The campaign will feature three celebrities including the American social media personality LILHUDDY, the Brazilian singer Anitta, and the American rapper, singer-songwriter, and entrepreneur, Nelly. Some of the unlockable bonuses have interesting utilities like being able to have a phone call with one of the campaign celebrities.

“Guests can choose from three Keep It Real Meal boxes curated by Nelly, Anitta, and LILHUDDY, available at participating U.S. Burger King restaurants, while supplies last,” the announcement explains. “When guests scan an artist’s Real Meal box QR code, they are awarded one of three variations on one of three collectible NFT game pieces. Guests complete the artist’s set when they’ve collected the same variation of each collectible NFT game piece.” The announcement further added:

Once a set is complete, guests will be programmatically granted a 4th reward-based NFT, which awards prizes ranging from 3D BK digital collectibles, Whopper sandwiches for a year, autographed swag, or even a call with one of the artists.

Burger King is one of many well-known brand names that has delved into the non-fungible token (NFT) industry and cryptocurrency products in general. Brands like Oscar Mayer, Snickers, Milky Way, Axe Body Spray, Arizona Iced Tea, and more have been dipping their feet into the blockchain conversation and experimenting with different ideas.

What do you think about Burger King’s NFT campaign? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

This year a great deal of popular hip-hop superstars like Eminem, Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Lil Pump, and many more have been getting into the non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles scene. On Monday, the American rapper Snoop Dogg revealed that he is an avid collector of NFTs. Snoop claims to be a pseudonymous Twitter account dubbed “Cozomo de’ Medici,” an online character known to hold millions of dollars in NFTs.

Snoop Reveals His Pseudonymous Twitter Account

This past Monday, Snoop Dogg revealed on Twitter that he is “Cozomo de’ Medici” an NFT collector that joined Opensea.io in August and also started a Twitter account the same month. The wallet on Opensea owns close to $17 million worth of non-fungible tokens from various NFT collections like Cryptopunks, Cosmoflowers, and Snoop Dogg cash. At the time of writing, Cozomo’s Opensea account has approximately 207 NFTs.

Cozomo’s NFT account purchases NFTs regularly and the account has a variety of different kinds of digital collectibles. The Cozomo de’ Medici Twitter account (@Cozomomedici) follows 247 people on Twitter but 38,200 individual Twitter accounts follow Cozomo. The Twitter account’s bio also has a link to the Opensea account and the bio notes that Cozomo likes to “[Share] tales & insights from the wild world of NFTs.”

Snoop didn’t declare ownership of the Twitter account and Opensea profile until September 20, 2021. The American rapper tweeted: “I am @Cozomomedici.” Now and then, Cozomo also speaks about NFTs on Twitter and the phenomena behind the NFT ecosystem.

“Did I imagine my very 1st purchase of a “useless” jpeg would cost $2m USD?” asked Cozomo on September 2. “Absolutely not. It should have been $4m. Frens, today I share the uncensored tale of how I entered the wild world of NFTs. From 0 to 8 figures in 30 days. Grab a glass, take a seat, & hold on tight,” the Twitter account added.

Cozomo Gifts an Ethereum to a Lucky Follower, Some Individuals ‘Not Pleased’ With the Dox

When he doxed himself, Snoop took to the Cozomo Twitter account and gave away a single ethereum (ETH) to one of his Twitter followers. “Dear frens,” Cozomo said, “since I announced my dox, events have transpired [that] most would not believe, nor understand. What I can share is I’ve received an outpouring of kindness here on Twitter. And many say they prefer to know me as Cozomo, and no one else.” Cozomo continued:

So here is what I’ve decided to do: To make this more fun, I have decided I will gift one random person who finds and shares the tweet, 1 ETH from the Medici Vault.

Interestingly, Cozomo further added that some people who directly messaged (DM) the Twitter account before it was revealed, may want to delete their DMs.

“Some important and powerful people have gotten word of this dox and are not pleased,” Cozomo stressed on Monday. “If we have had DM conversations I kindly and urgently ask you [to] delete them. Father made a phone call. The dox will go on.”

What do you think about Snoop Dogg’s pseudonymous Twitter account and his million-dollar NFT collection? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

On September 22, the team behind the Wallstreetbets defi application called Wsbdapp announced the launch of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection featuring 15,000 generative NFTs. According to the team, the NFTs provide utility like VIP access to special metaverse events and yield farming boosts.

Wsbdapp Project Launches NFT Collection

During the first week of September, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Wallstreetbets’ (wsbdapp) platform, which allows users to transact with decentralized finance (defi) protocols like a decentralized exchange (dex).

The project partnered with the defi project Balancer a few days later and this week, the Wallstreetbets (WSB) defi project has launched a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Jaime Rogozinski, the founder of WSB and strategic partner of the Wsbdapp project details for quite some time WSB memes were given out to the public free of charge.

“The Wallstreetbets community has been giving out memes for free for too long; Apple should be paying everyone royalties for rocket and diamond emojis at this point,” Rogozinski said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News.

“That’s why we brought together a global team of artists, builders, DeFi pioneers and blockchain fanatics to develop an NFT experience that combines the culture and creativity the community has shown over the last year,” he added. The founder of WSB continued:

We’re proud to introduce the Diamond Hands Pass NFT collection as we enter new frontiers in defi and create offerings that can help regular people own their financial futures. And cool art.

Raffle Tickets and the ‘Diamond Hands Pass NFTs’

According to WSB, the NFT statistics will include:

• 30,000 NFT raffle tickets
• 15,000 Diamond Hands Pass NFTs
• 153 unique artwork traits
• 40,600,560 unique possibilities

The project’s team also revealed that the genesis Diamond Hands NFT can unlock specific benefits.

“There are 15,000 handcrafted genesis NFTs up for grabs, each with unique qualities and some with desirable rarities,” the WSB team disclosed. “In the interest of fairness, WSB is introducing a 30,000 raffle ticket system that allows participants to mint up to five raffle tickets per wallet. Once all tickets have been sold or the minting window closes, the draw will be chosen randomly by a computerized selection process. All non-winning raffle tickets will be refunded.”

Every Diamond Hands NFT will be handcrafted generative art and Diamond Hands Pass owners get access to the members-only Discord room. NFTs will also benefit users by offering “enhanced yield farming rewards on [the Binance Smart Chain], and premium access to Wallstreetbets events.”

The Wsbdapp project is not the first defi project to add NFTs to the project’s unique defi system and likely won’t be the last. Beyond collectibles, NFT concepts have been stretching into the realm of utility with concepts like VIP access, raffle tickets, discounts, and more. The NFT art was designed by the popular artist yung.lils.

South Africa’s Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJCD) has denied claims that it has received a 50 bitcoin ransom demand from hackers that attacked its systems on September 6, 2021.

Reports of Ransom Demand Deemed ‘Completely Untrue’

Instead, the DOJCD insists that its tech experts, “industry partners and selected organs of state have been working hard to contain the problem and to restore systems affected by the ransomware attack.” Consequently, the department stated in a tweet that an article published by Mybroadband on September 20, is, therefore “completely untrue.” A tweet shared by the country’s Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services explained:

The DOJCD would like to place it on the record that it has not received any ransom demand following the ransomware attack as suggested by an article on http://mybroadband.co.za/news/ published on 20 Sept 2021. The Mybroadband article to this effect is completely untrue.

The South African tech news site Mybroadband stated that hackers behind the ransomware attack had in fact demanded 50 BTC in return for restoring access to the compromised systems. The same report added that a tech firm was subsequently “brought in to attempt to regain control of compromised systems.”

Upon examining the ransomware attack, the unnamed tech firm is reported to have advised the DOJCD “to pay the ransom and [to] budget for a cloud backup system.” By agreeing to this ransom demand, the DOJCD would be able to regain control of all electronic services provided by the department.

Also in its report, Mybroadband said it had asked the DOJCD for more information about the nature of the attack against its IT system and that the latter had promised to provide further feedback.

Justice Department Attacked

Meanwhile, some Twitter users have questioned the DOJCD’s claims that it had not received a ransom demand. For instance, one user named Ravi Singh insists that this ransomware attack will only be solved by giving in to the hackers’ demands. The user said:

If you are infected with a ransomware virus, you won’t need to receive a ransom, the virus will automatically show you the bitcoin or altcoin address to pay to, to gain access to your files. It’s named ransomware for a reason. There’s no other classification or family period.

Another user said this attack has exposed the ineptitude of the person that is overseeing the IT department.

As a result of the ransomware attack, some of the DOJCD’s services are now being performed manually. However, the department has noted that “some functionality of the Mojapay system has been recovered and most [child] maintenance payments have been processed.”

Can the DOJCD successfully regain access to its systems without paying a ransom? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted Suex, a cryptocurrency broker based in Russia, for its money laundering activities. The platform is suspected of processing hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto transactions related to scams, ransomware attacks, darknet markets, and the infamous BTC-e exchange.

OFAC Adds Russian Crypto OTC Exchange Suex to Blacklist

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has added Suex to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. The move, announced Tuesday, effectively prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging with the platform. OFAC also published a list of cryptocurrency addresses linked to Suex.

The company behind the crypto broker, Suex OTC s.r.o., is an entity registered in the Czech Republic. However, it operates mainly from branches in the Russian Federation, including its offices in the capital Moscow and the country’s second-largest city, Saint Petersburg. It’s believed that Suex maintains presence elsewhere in Russia, the surrounding region, and possibly the Middle East as well.

According to a report by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, which supported the U.S. government-led investigation, Suex (“Successful Exchange”) offers users conversion of their cryptocurrency into cash and other assets at its physical locations. It’s these services that have attracted ransomware actors, scammers, and darknet market operators that have allegedly sent over $160 million in bitcoin (BTC) to the over-the counter (OTC) crypto broker.

Since launching in early 2018, Suex has received a total of more than $481 million in BTC alone, according to exchange rates at the time of transfer, and it also accepts ether (ETH) and tether (USDT) among other coins. Of that amount, almost $13 million came from ransomware operators such as Ryuk, Conti, and Maze. Over $24 million was sent by crypto scams including the Finiko Ponzi scheme, more than $20 million originated from darknet markets like the Russian Hydra Market, and another $20 million came from mixers, Chainalysis detailed.

The OTC broker also got more than $82 million from “high-risk” digital asset trading platforms. According to the investigation, Suex received over $50 million worth of cryptocurrency from addresses associated with the now defunct BTC-e. Although the exchange was shut down four years ago for facilitating large-scale money laundering on behalf of cybercriminals, the funds were sent to the crypto broker after that, likely by former administrators, associates, or users.

One of the alleged operators of BTC-e, Russian IT specialist Alexander Vinnik who was arrested in Greece in the summer of 2017, was sentenced by a French court last December to five years in prison for money laundering. Another Russian national, Dmitry Vasiliev, who managed BTC-e’s successor platform, Wex, was recently arrested in Poland. Earlier this week someone moved over $30 million worth of ether from a Wex wallet.

What are your thoughts on the blacklisting of Russian crypto OTC broker Suex? Tell us in the comments section below.

Ryan Selkis, the founder of Messari, a cryptocurrency research company, has announced he will be running for the U.S. Senate in 2024. The entrepreneur made the announcement on Twitter after finding out one of the speakers at Messari’s Mainnet conference, whose identity could not be confirmed, was served with a subpoena by the SEC. This is one of the first serious political bids that a crypto entrepreneur has made in the U.S.

Messari CEO Ryan Selkis Announces Senate Bid for 2024

Ryan Selkis, founder and CEO of Messari, a crypto research firm, has announced he will be running for Senate in 2024. Selkis apparently made the decision after one of the speakers from Mainnet, a conference organized by Messari, was served a subpoena by SEC staff that had attended the conference. Selkis stated:

If you’re wondering when I actually decided to run for Senate, it was when these f**kers came to my event, didn’t buy a ticket, and served one of the speakers a subpoena. Enough talk. More war on our out-of-control regulatory state.

While some media reported this speaker to be Do Kwon, founder of a protocol in Cosmos, this could not be confirmed.

Selkis is one of the first cryptocurrency entrepreneurs to announce a political run (besides the late John McAfee) to change the way that regulators are acting against cryptocurrency companies and decentralized protocols. But Selkis’ views are not a secret. He has always been vocal about his disagreements with how regulators are, in his opinion, hurting cryptocurrency companies in the country and stifling innovators.

Selkis Doubles Down

While for some the Selkis tweet was thought a rash assessment of the subject and likely a joke, Selkis dispelled these doubts in a recent interview. When asked about his senate run, he doubled down on his bet, stating:

The tweet does speak for itself. The tone is aggressive and assertive, but I think it underpins the sentiment that most of the industry feel right now even if they don’t say it out loud.

He reaffirmed the idea that regulators are focused on crypto, to regulate it in every way possible. Selkis thinks the government has a hammer and views every cryptocurrency project out there like a nail to be smashed down. The proposal sparked support from several cryptocurrency insiders on social media, who applauded the direction and intention of Selkis’ no-nonsense declaration.

What do you think about the CEO of Messari running for U.S. Senate? Tell us in the comments section below.

Mars4 – centered ecosystem where you can explore a virtual Mars Metaverse, own and customize your land property with MARS4 dollars and even reap the rewards of the world’s first revenue-generating NFT! Attractive tokenomics of Mars4 leverages NFT Mars Land, Gamification and Token Redistribution.

Mars4 is a unique metaverse. The Mars4 project’s development team has modeled their detailed 3D map of Mars’ terrain after NASA’s Mars data. Think of it as Mars’ equivalent of the 2001 Google Earth 3D map.

Mars4 NFT owners can take a virtual trip to Mars and leverage gamification features to earn attractive yields while exploring the fourth planet. Mars4 is a project of the Mars4 Foundation, an organization that invests in space exploration, aerospace, and suborbital aerospace companies.

How does Mars4 work?

Mars4 leverages token yield farming and gamification elements to create an attractive decentralized finance investment option. Additionally, Mars4 helps space exploration enthusiasts explore the red planet via its virtual platform.

Inside its metaverse are diverse adventures and fun activities that will keep its community-engaged as they generate passive income from its NFTs. The Mars 4 project has three fundamental elements.

• Its interactive Mars terrain 3D world is subdivided into plots. Each Mars4 NFT is a digital representation of these plots.
• A utility and governance token system that supports user incentives, transactions, trading, gaming and NFT minting processes.
• The Mars4 liquidity mining feature for NFT holders.

Mars4 virtual world

Its 3D virtual world is Mars4’s gamification aspect. Through it, you can explore Mars and buy land as NFTs. These NFTs will earn yield via the project’s liquidity mining feature. Mars4 has 99,888 unique and rare Real Estate NFTs that symbolize Mars’ rovers landing sites and its most popular geographical features.

Each land parcel measures 559 square miles. On purchase, terraform your land to increase its value. You can purchase additional value-enhancing avatars, certificates, and logos from its in-game assets feature.

Mars4 utility and governance system

You can buy Mars4 land parcels with MARS4 tokens at its public sale. There are 4 billion MARS4 tokens that are used to mint the platform’s 99,888 NFTs.

MARS4 tokens will play a key role in the metaverse’s transaction processes. Each time users perform a transaction, the Mars4 NFT holders will earn yield. The project’s protocols will reward NFT owners for holding their units.

Before the launch of Metaverse, epochs are introduced to redistribute passive income for Mars landlords. Each Epoch starts after a new 10,000 NFTs are sold. 51% of income from the Land NFTs are redistributed to the previous NFT owners, starting Epoch 1.

NFT holder incentives will grow after each epoch and even more later as the metaverse’s transactions increase. Mars4 NFTs are therefore an excellent long-term investment prospect and are available on Rarible and OpenSea.

Mars4 explodes on MISO Launchpad

MARS4 tokens listed on Sushiswap’s MISO launchpad from September 15. In private and public auctions for MARS4 tokens the minimum raise was collected in the first 45 minutes!

In the format of batch auction participants contribute to the pool. A set amount of tokens are divided amongst all the contributors to the Market event, weighted according to their contribution to the pool.

Two auctions are organised with a total of 40 million MARS4 tokens. Both private auction for Mars Land owners only and public auction for everyone will end after seven day from September 15.Tokens will be distributed within 10 days after the end of the auctions.

If you do own MARS4 NFT, find the link to the auction HERE. If you are new to MARS4 or still don’t own land on Mars, participate HERE.

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Members of the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, have voiced concerns over Tehran’s restrictive policies towards innovations such as cryptocurrencies. Following the release of a study recommending a new approach towards the crypto industry, the lawmakers have called for the adoption of friendlier regulations.

Iranian MPs Urge for Change in Crypto Policies After Research

Some parliamentarians in Iran have set out to change the government’s regulatory attitude towards cryptocurrencies, citing opportunities to use them to improve the nation’s sanctioned and troubled economy. “Taking a restrictive approach only pushes innovative solutions underground,” the spokesman of the Majlis Economic Commission, Gholamreza Marhaba, told Iranian media. Commenting on the results of the research on the matter carried out by the commission, he also stated:

Our studies show that 50% of crypto activities are in the informal market. This is while supportive regulations can help enhance contribution of the digital currency to the economy.

The authors of the report, which was presented in the Iranian legislature last week, are recommending a new approach to regulating the cryptocurrency industry, the English-language newspaper Financial Tribune reported. They believe the sector can contribute to Iran’s economy suffering from decades of foreign sanctions and mismanagement.

Under current government rules, crypto mining is legal in Iran for entities authorized by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade. The minting of digital coins was recognized as an industrial activity in 2019. However, the trading of crypto assets isn’t tolerated and Iranian authorities have been cracking down on local exchanges with a notable exception — banks and licensed moneychangers are allowed to use digital currency mined in Iran to pay for imports.

Hadi Nejad Beigi, another member of the Majlis, noted that the administration of former president Hassan Rouhani had been reluctant to legalize crypto trade, fearing it would attract private investment. However, the growing popularity of bitcoin among Iranians prompted lawmakers to prepare a draft law which, while proposing to ban the use of cryptocurrencies in payments, at the same time aims to support mining and regulate trading.

Crypto Mining Can Help Iran to Expand Its Power Generation Capacities

According to the study, cryptocurrency mining can solve some problems facing the Iranian energy sector, including financial issues. That’s why the lawmakers have suggested that the government should allow miners to buy electricity through the Iran Energy Exchange or even directly from local and foreign producers. They have also put forward a proposal to introduce “barter deals” in which mining companies can pay for the subsidized energy they use with the digital currency they mine, selling it “at reasonable rates set by the Central Bank of Iran.” Beigi emphasized:

I think there are solutions. We need a mechanism to link the crypto miners and power plant owners.

A colleague of his, Ehsan Arkani, added that by promoting the development of crypto mining, Iran can accelerate the rehabilitation and expansion of its power plants. He also highlighted the potential use of cryptocurrencies to evade U.S.-led economic sanctions. “Cryptos are becoming an inseparable part of the global financial industry,” Arkani pointed out, stressing that “Policymakers need to be aware of this technology so that we can make benefit from it.”

The energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining has been blamed for electricity shortages and blackouts across Iran during the hot summer months. This spring, then-President Rouhani announced a temporary ban on the activity for authorized miners while the number of shut-down, illegal crypto farms has now exceeded 5,300. Last month, Iran’s state-run power utility, Tavanir, said restrictions should be lifted on Sept. 22 as energy demand goes down with temperatures.

Calls to legalize and properly regulate the Iranian crypto industry have been mounting this year. In May, the Iranian parliament urged capital market regulators to create efficient investment vehicles for legal crypto trade. Then in June, the country’s economy minister warned the government could not interfere with the development of crypto technologies for too long. And in mid-August, the country’s securities watchdog said the Central Bank of Iran should address the use of cryptocurrency by the Iranian people.

Do you think Iran will establish a more supportive regulatory regime for crypto companies in the future? Share your expectations in the comments section below.