Warren Says Iran's 'Increasingly Lucrative' Crypto Mining Industry Used To Evade Sanctions

Iran has established an "increasingly lucrative" digital assets mining sector that it rampantly uses to evade U.S. sanctions, two senators, including a known crypto critic, told top officials this week. They demand answers on how the U.S. has so far moved to combat such activities by Tehran.

"We write to inquire about the Biden administration's efforts to combat Iran's rampant evasion of U.S. and international sanctions through cryptocurrency mining," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Angus King Jr., I-Maine, said in a letter to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week.

The senators said Iran's crypto mining sector, since being legalized in 2019, has been used by the Iranian government to "fund Hamas and other terrorist organizations," and such activity "threatens our national security."

They cited a report by blockchain analytics and research firm Elliptic that revealed crypto miners in Iran require "approximately 10 million barrels of crude oil each year" so they can generate the power needed for their operations.

"Cryptomining has become increasingly lucrative for Iran," Warren and King Jr. said, and while such activities may help boost Iranian employment, Tehran's "use of crypto to launder funds is well known," they argued. They also pointed out how the Iranian government is known to have affiliations with ransomware gangs that attacked American organizations.

Since Iran's massive crypto and Bitcoin mining industry could pose a threat to the U.S. national security, Warren and King Jr. are requesting that the Biden administration "describe the steps" it is taking to address such threats.

Among the questions the lawmakers want answered is how much money the U.S. government believes does Tehran launder in cryptocurrencies yearly and to what extend does the Iranian government fund terror organizations through digital assets.

This is not the first time Warren and several other lawmakers demanded answers from the Biden administration regarding the use of crypto assets by terror groups.

In October, Warren and other lawmakers cited a Wall Street Journal report titled "Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto," which used data from Elliptic research. Elliptic has since clarified that there was "no evidence to suggest that crypto fundraising has raised anything close" to $41 million between August 2021 and June 2023 as WSJ alleged. The blockchain analysis firm said its data was "misinterpreted."