In recent news, US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus King have expressed serious concerns about the safety of Iran’s growing bitcoin mining industry. They say that this business is a significant security risk for the country.
In a letter sent on May 1st to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, among others, the senators asked the Biden administration to quickly explain any possible links between the Iranian government and local cryptocurrency miners.
Crypto, US Senators’ Concerns
Senators Warren and King say that digital assets mined in Iran are being used to get around U.S. sanctions and give money to terrorist groups like Hezbollah. In addition, they say that these illegal funds may have supported Iran’s recent strikes on Israel, especially the one in April.
Since 1979, both U.S. and foreign sanctions have kept Iran under tight control. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury sanctioned several groups earlier this year for illegally sending technology from several U.S. companies to Iran.
They said, “Without decisive action, Iran is poised to continue leveraging cryptocurrencies to perpetrate attacks against Israel.”
In their letter, Warren and King referred to a story that said the Iranian government likes “newly minted” Bitcoin because it is thought to be harder to track. It is said that Bitcoin miners in Iran gained around $1 billion in 2021 alone.
So, the senators have asked U.S. officials to give them full information on how much funds Iranian crypto miners make, how that funds could be used to hide funds, and what plans they have to reduce these threats to U.S. national security.
Interestingly, worries still exist even though the Iranian government has occasionally cracked down on cryptocurrency mining since it became legal in 2019. Iran took back about 150,000 pieces of crypto-mining gear in 2021 because they were afraid of running out of power. But in the end, this technology was made accessible again in January of the next year.
