Iran’s New Crypto Law: Miners Sell Bitcoin Directly to Central Bank to Fund Imports

On October 30, foreign media reported that Iran’s Ministry of Energy and the Central Bank (CBI) have formulated new regulations requiring the country’s legally registered cryptocurrency miners to sell their mined tokens to the CBI. It is reported that the bitcoins mined by Iranians will be injected into the national treasury so that they can be used to pay for imported goods.

Iran has become the first country in the world to use cryptocurrencies for value exchange at the national level. The Iranian cabinet has amended legislation to reincorporate cryptocurrencies into the import financing mechanism of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

The central bank and the Ministry of Energy said: "Miners should supply native cryptocurrencies directly to the channels introduced by the CBI within the scope of authorization." The legal limit on the amount of cryptocurrency per miner will be determined based on the level of subsidized energy used for mining and instructions issued by the Ministry of Energy. Iranian publication Financial Tribune pointed out: The measure proposed by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Ministry of Energy requires licensed crypto miners to sell the bitcoins they mine directly to the CBI. The statement pointed out that the central bank will soon announce the details of the new law.

“These cryptocurrencies can be exchanged in accordance with the central bank’s regulations,” Mehr news agency quoted Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, vice president of Iran’s Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) and spokesman for the power industry, as saying.

Alireza Shamkhi, a cryptocurrency analyst, noted that the new law is vague. For example, it does not state how the central bank will price cryptocurrencies or the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the riyal. Previously, miners could exchange their cryptocurrencies for dollars, riyals or other currencies at market prices. He added that the requirement for miners to report their output to the central bank is not seen in other industries. He believes that the new law could make the industry less attractive and significantly reduce miners' profit margins.

Iran has issued 1,000 licenses to crypto miners, including one to Turkish bitcoin mining giant Iminer. Iran's power plants are allowed to mine cryptocurrencies, and bitcoin miners have been granted exclusive rights to use electricity produced by three of the plants. Meanwhile, Iran's Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) has identified and closed 1,100 crypto mining farms without operating licenses with the help of whistleblowers. It was previously reported that Iran will reward those who report illegal bitcoin miners. (Golden Finance)