Iran bans trading of bitcoins mined abroad, central bank confirms

The Central Bank of Iran (CIB) confirmed a ban on cryptocurrency transactions mined abroad. This was reported by state television channel Press TV, citing the regulator.

Earlier the CIB allowed banks and other licensed financial institutions to use cryptocurrency to pay for imports.

According to reports, the decree clarifies that organisations may use only digital assets mined “through legal channels inside Iran”. How exactly the central bank intends to monitor inflows of assets from abroad is unknown.

Lawyer Fatemeh Fannizadeh [Fatemeh Fannizadeh] suggested that the decision was taken to curb capital outflows from Iran amid inflation.

Crypto is already regulated in Iran. Mining is a legal industry, while trading is banned to my understanding

this just means that Iran wants to export Iranian produced coins more aggressively, encourage mining, and counter capital flight in the face of a depreciating Rial

— Meh (@Fatalmeh) May 6, 2021

“This simply means that Iran wants to more aggressively export Iranian coins, encourage mining, and counter capital flight in the face of a depreciating rial,” wrote Fannizadeh.

In July 2019, Iran recognised cryptocurrency mining as an industrial activity.

In 2020, the government required miners operating in the country to register, disclosing identity, type and quantity of installed equipment. Local power plants were allowed to work with Bitcoin-mining facilities provided they held a license and complied with the established tariffs.