Iranians Turn to Bitcoin Mining to Cushion the Effects of U.S. Sanctions

Iran is in the middle of a bit of an economic crisis right now. Due to hiccups caused by the sanctions that were imposed by the United States government a while back, the government of Iran has had its hands full with merely keeping its economy afloat. Due to this, it would appear that the citizens are taking matters into their own hands. Having started using cryptocurrency for transactions with the rest of the world, they have now turned to Bitcoin mining as a means of making ends meet, according to a report on the Atlantic Council.

The U.S. imposed sanctions affected the Iranian economy in more ways than one. Perhaps the biggest negative that came out among other effects of the sanctions saw Iran-based commercial banks kicked out of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network. A direct implication of this move is the exclusion of the Iranian Central Bank from the rest the world, making it impossible for retail banks to process…