- Two US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus S. King, Jr. have warned the Biden administration that Iran’s Bitcoin mining operations are a threat to national security.
- In a letter co-written by Warren and King to the US Secretary of Defence, Secretary of Treasury, and National Security Adviser, the senators highlighted the threats of Iran’s Bitcoin mining while asking the addresses for answers to some relevant questions.
US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Angus S. King, Jr. have raised a fresh round of warnings to the Biden administration on the dangers of Iran’s Bitcoin mining operations to national security. The US lawmakers wrote a letter this Wednesday addressed to some key government officials including the US Secretary of Defence, Secretary of Treasury, and National Security Adviser on the matter while seeking answers to some vital questions.
Senators Warren and King Write US Secretaries of Defence and Treasury and National Security Adviser
Warren and King had on May 1, written a letter to Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen, and the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan “to inquire about the Biden administration’s efforts to combat Iran’s rampant evasion of U.S. and international sanctions through cryptocurrency (crypto) mining.”
The letter revealed how Iran legalized crypto mining – a process used in verifying crypto transactions and minting new crypto – in 2019 and has since raised millions of dollars allowing it to import goods, move funds within and internationally, and fund Hamas and other terror groups.
“This ongoing activity by the Iranian government threatens our national security,” wrote the Senators, especially considering that Iran is one of the world’s largest Bitcoin producers, producing an impressive seven percent of the Global Bitcoin market in 2021 and amassing a fortune through this revenue source.
According to Elliptic, Iran alone could have produced up to $1 billion in Bitcoin mining revenue in 2021. A testimony by Chainalysis’ Jonathan Levin to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in 2022 also revealed that Iran’s Bitcoin mining operations had injected over $186 million into the country’s crypto platforms between 2015 and 2021, underscoring the lucrative nature of the activity in Iran.
However, besides Iran’s booming and highly lucrative Bitcoin mining enterprise, the bone of contention is its solid reputation for using crypto to launder money, most of which is used to sponsor terrorist activities.
The letter pointed out that “Iran’s use of crypto to evade sanctions poses a direct threat to our national security,” citing its recent attack on Israel which is dragging the US into a proxy war.
“The Iranian military has used crypto to fund known terrorist groups like Hezbollah, the organization believed to be partially responsible for the January 2024 drone strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members,” said the letter
The concerns about Iran’s terror sponsorship have also aroused an ongoing investigation by the Treasury on $165 million in crypto transactions believed to be linked to Hamas which gets a whopping $100 million annually from its sponsor Iran. The senators warn that “unless we take action, Iran will continue to use crypto to fund attacks against Israel.”
The Senators Require Answers On The Scope of Iran’s Crypto-Related Crimes and the US’ Response
Following their analysis of Iran’s crypto mining enterprise and its national security risks, Warren and King asked five salient questions to gain more insight into the scope of Iran’s use of crypto mining and crypto to evade sanctions and sponsor terrorism. They also seek to know what the administration is doing to tackle the threats, expecting answers by May 16.
The first two questions revolve around how much revenue Iran-based crypto miners have earned since 2021 and how much of that revenue is collected by the Iranian government or its affiliated actors.
The Senators also seek answers on how much money the Biden administration believes Iran launders each year, the extent of its crypto-backed terrorist funding, military actions, and weapons development. In addition, they want to know “steps the administration is taking to address threats to U.S. national security posed by Iran’s reliance on cryptomining and cryptocurrency more generally to earn revenue and bypass sanctions.”