The government of Iran issues licenses for cryptocurrency mining.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, issued a direct order to his government cabinet related to cryptocurrencies. In the statement, the President expressly asks to develop a national strategy that will help the country adopt and use cryptocurrencies.
During a seminar dedicated to strategies to improve the national economy, last week, Rouhani talked to the representatives of government institutions such as the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, and the Department of Energy. The President’s request was related to the creation of a strategy capable of developing a sustainable cryptocurrency mining system.
According to some press reports, Rouhani also mentioned the need to create a regulatory framework around the crypto industry, as well as to establish a reserve fund for accumulated profits from mining.
This request comes a few days after the Iranian press reviewed the words of a parliamentarian who assured that the Parliament would be preparing a law capable of improving the regulation of the exchange houses that operate in the country, as well as establishing control methods to avoid illegal acts with digital currencies.
Some experts point out that this law would seek to be stricter with exchange houses operating in Iran, and would force them to enter a licensed control register led and controlled by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
Likewise, economic experts point out that these control measures follow a strategy that would avoid capital flight and help prevent internal money laundering.
Prison Penalties and Fines
A few weeks ago, the President of the United States, expressed his concern about some news which affirm that Iran would use cryptocurrencies to avoid the economic upheaval that the country faces.
Iran established that the use of cryptocurrencies is legal in its country since 2019, and also allowed the digital mining industry to take importance in Iran. However, the new law would seek to establish order and a legal framework around this economic activity.
For this reason, Iran established the issuance of licenses certified by the BCI and would allow mining companies to carry out a full economic activity, which includes the possibility of mining and selling the assets. Some reports indicate that, in the first months, the Bank of Iran authorized the issuance of up to 1,000 mining licenses.
According to a Bitcoin Mining Map report, Iran has currently managed to obtain 4 % of all BTC hash rate in the world. Some analysts do not understand why Rouhani, the President of Iran, established tight control over crypto assets in his country.
However, analysts consider that this decision could be part of a strategy to avoid the decapitalization of the country and avoid economic instability since some governments consider cryptocurrencies as an unstable and volatile digital asset. That is why Iran considers it is important to create a strategy to regulate the crypto-mining activity in the country.
By María Rodríguez
