Draft law in Iran can ban all foreign cryptocurrencies July 3, 2021

The new bill from Iran’s Parliamentary Economic Committee aims to limit the use of cryptocurrencies in the country while creating a clearer regulatory framework for miners.

According to a report by the Tasnim news agency on Friday, lawmakers have drafted a bill entitled “Supporting Cryptocurrency Mining and Organizing the Domestic Market for Exchanges,” which Parliament first announced on June 23, the regulator of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

According to the bill, all cryptocurrencies within Iran could be banned for payments, with the exception of “national” cryptocurrencies – primarily digital central bank currencies or tokens minted in the private sector. However, the statement may refer to cryptocurrencies that have been mined by licensed institutions in Iran as the Iranian central bank previously said it is trying to secure all digital currencies, and domestic trade is all sourced from local farms.

The proposed law would also formally place cryptocurrency mining under the control of the Department of Industry, Mining, and Commerce, allowing the Department of Industry, Mining, and Commerce to license farms. Licensed miners with partial or full control of the power plant can apply to the country’s Ministry of Energy to sell excess electricity.

Mining cryptocurrencies as an industrial activity has been legal in Iran since 2019 as long as miners are properly licensed and regulated. However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced in May that mining activities would be banned until September, and authorities appear to be stepping up crackdown on unlicensed miners as the country faces rising energy demands during the summer months.

Connected: Iran’s central bank says officially mined crypto can be used to pay for imports

In June, Rouhani said at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee in his cabinet that Iran needs to legalize cryptocurrencies in order to safeguard and protect its national interests. The president has called for a joint study between capital markets and news agencies to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.