Iranian President Calls for National Crypto Mining Strategy

The Iranian President, Rouhani, recently informed the officials from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), energy department, and information and communication technology ministries in a seminar for national economic strategy, that a new national strategy should be devised for cryptocurrency mining, including regulation and mining revenue.

Iran’s president has ordered officials to develop a new approach to cryptocurrency mining.@paddybaker_ reportshttps://t.co/xdQ48K3z55

— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) May 21, 2020

Two days ago the Iranian parliament introduced a bill urging to apply the country’s strict foreign exchange and currency smuggling regulation to cryptocurrencies. According to the new law, crypto exchanges operating in the country would have to be registered with the CBI – possibly a step to prevent large sums of capital from leaving the country.

There are severe penalties for smuggling in Iran including fines and imprisonment. Last Summer, Iran was among the first countries to formally recognize cryptocurrency mining as a legal industry. The government is now issuing mining licenses, providing the right to mine to companies, and selling off digital assets that are produced. According to a report in January, Iran had currently issued over 1,000 such licenses in its first six months.

According to Bitcoin Mining Map, currently, Iran has a 4% share in bitcoin’s total hash rate, more than double the percentage at the beginning of September last year. 

Till now it cannot be judged why Rouhani wants Iranian officials to reconsider bitcoin mining regulation. With the heavy sum of money leaving the country, as cryptocurrencies, it’s likely that the President wants to establish that miners, too, aren’t concealing their money from the government’s eyes.