Iranian citizens are using Bitcoin to buy VPNs and bypass sanctions (and other Iranian Bitcoin news)

One of my supervisors at my job is Iranian. He recently said that his mother had purchased a VPN using Bitcoin and was then able to use WhatsApp and other social medias to contact him. The Iranian government has made social media and VPNs illegal.

When he said this in the group meeting, many of my coworkers chuckled and said things like 'wow you're mother is really sophisticated/technical!'

I know better than to chime in anymore, but I really wanted to go on the whole "first world nations like us don't need it as much- it's those in third world countries and those under authoritarian regimes who need censorship resistant money more" rant, but instead I just smiled and nodded.

From a recent RadioFreeEurope article in August 2022 "Iran's government has approved a set of regulations for trading with cryptocurrencies, a move that potentially allows the country to skirt some U.S. financial sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear program."

From a CNBC article in October 2022 "Demand for VPN services skyrocketed [in Iran] over 2,100% on Sept. 22 compared with the previous 28 days, according to figures from Top10VPN."

In 2021, Reuters reported around 4.5 percent of global Bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, due to cheap electricity.

November 2022; "Binance has processed Iranian transactions with a value of $8 billion since 2018 despite U.S. sanctions intended to cut Iran off from the global financial system"

4 weeks ago; Iran and Russia are collaborating to launch the “token of the Persian Gulf”, a stablecoin backed by gold. Not directly Bitcoin related but within the conversation.

This is not an exhaustive list of Bitcoin and crypto activity in the country, but I would like to end this post saying that I do not fully support any nationstate, especially those who the UN and HRC have condemned for prior and ongoing abuses of international human rights. But what I will support is anybody, any company, any citizen, any refugee, and even any government, using Bitcoin to enhance their freedoms. Via la ₿itcoin.