Several weeks after Iran imported its first goods using cryptocurrencies, the country passed a bill allowing local businesses to use digital currency for imports. The Iranian government said it would expand its use of cryptocurrencies by the end of September. 

Russian officials are starting to take note as they see speedy sanctions from around the world, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While new Iranian imports have proven crypto does have the power to help countries out of sanctions. 

The move follows the imposition of new US sanctions against the country's oil companies. Iran has recently stepped up its aggressive push toward cryptocurrencies. Recently, Iran completed its first order for crypto-based products worth $10 million, according to reports. 

Alireza Peyman-Pak, head of the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), revealed that Iran intends to aggressively trade with digital assets by the end of next month. 

“This week, the first official import order registration worth 10 million dollars was successfully completed using cryptocurrency. By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widely used in foreign trade with target countries.” 

Cryptocurrencies have been widely viewed by Iranians as a way of circumventing US sanctions. By its decentralized nature and permissionless nature, cryptocurrencies provide a way of evading sanctions since there is no intermediary required. 

Russia may follow Iran's crypto imports :

As Russia has been heavily sanctioned, US lawmakers have warned it could try and evade sanctions by adopting cryptocurrency. A sanction against the cryptocurrency market in Russia had even been considered by the Biden administration. 

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin expressed his support at a Russian economic forum for cross-border crypto payments, pointing out digital assets can be used to avoid a penalty for goods imported from other countries.