Iran Starts Licensing Crypto Miners

The Iranian government has reportedly started issuing licenses to cryptocurrency miners under a new “comprehensive and detailed” regulatory framework that it approved last week.

The government of Iran approved a set of “comprehensive and detailed” cryptocurrency regulations last week, which now includes provisions for crypto mining. Authorities in the country previously issued a small number of licenses to crypto mining operations but stopped the process over power consumption concerns and illegal mining issues. Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, Reza Fatemi Amin, said that his ministry now has permission to continue issuing licenses. He said:

Based on the rulings by the government, the entities that apply to mine crypto assets can get an establishment license and an operating license.

According to Amin, to begin mining cryptocurrencies in Iran, a company needs to obtain two licenses: an establishment license and an operating license. The former identifies an entity as a legitimate crypto miner and the latter authorizes the entity to begin mining.

Mohsen Rezaei Sadrabadi, secretary of the government’s group working on digital assets said that miners can now apply for mining licenses and use cryptocurrencies to pay for imports instead of dollars and euros. Sabrabadi added that the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade is responsible for the issuance of licenses, adding that the new regulations provide for large-scale crypto mining operations. He added that the central bank has been made the primary regulator of the cryptocurrency industry, but believes that regulating the industry should be multi-dimensional and not be overseen by a single regular as the ecosystem consists of much more than just cryptos.

The Iranian central bank banned crypto trading inside the country in 2019, but the government legalised mining as an industry. In December however, the government ordered licensed miners to halt operations due to power concerns.

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