Iranian Draft Bill to Regulate Crypto, Ban Bitcoin Payments

A bill drafted by the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Commission is to set out a framework for regulating cryptos that includes plans to develop a national cryptocurrency.

The bill titled “support for cryptocurrency mining and organizing the domestic market for exchanges” prohibits the use of crypto for payments within Iran, but not internationally.

It gives the central bank authority to regulate crypto exchanges and the wider domestic crypto market within three months.

It further gives the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade supervisory powers over crypto miners with the ability to issue licenses.

Miners can further apply for permission from the Energy Ministry for the construction of power plants and can sell surplus electricity to the national grid.

Iran recently suspended crypto mining due to significant pressure on their national grid, but the then President Hassan Rouhani asked for a crypto regulatory framework to be enacted “as soon as possible.”

This draft bill appears to be the result of that request, with it appearing to be generally accommodative, albeit with some restrictions, as Iran opts to regulate the crypto industry and harness its resources to produce energy.

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