“Energy ministry is to announce the instruction on supplying electricity for mining units besides the set electricity tariffs for the activity,” he added.

“The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has announced trading cryptocurrencies illegal in the country because it regards digital money as a kind of exports good,” he said.

“The earned revenues from exporting domestically-mined cryptocurrencies must be re-injected back to Iran’s financial system through NIMA- Iran’s Forex Management Integrated System,” he underlined.

On July 29, the Iranian government authorized crypto mining as an industrial activity.

The Iranian government endorsed crypto mining as an industrial activity and noted that those involved should take required licenses from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

According to the decision, those who use cryptocurrencies should accept its risks and the government and banking system will not provide any guarantees for them. It also notes that using digital money in domestic transactions is not allowed.

Crypto mining, like other industrial activities, is taxable unless individuals export cryptocurrencies and bring back the revenues to the country, highlights the decision.

This is deemed the first step to legalize cryptocurrencies in Iran. Many experts believe that cryptocurrencies can be used as a means to mitigate the effects of US-imposed harsh economic sanctions against Iran.

Low-price electricity has encouraged many to mine cryptocurrencies in the country; even some reports indicate that miners from other countries such as China are establishing farms in Iran. The government is yet to approve the final price rate for miners.

The post Trading crypto illegal in Iran: industry min. official appeared first on Iran News Daily.

According to the decision, those who use cryptocurrencies should accept its risks and the government and banking system will not provide any guarantees for them. It also notes that using digital money in domestic transactions is not allowed.

Crypto mining, like other industrial activities, is taxable unless individuals export cryptocurrencies and bring back the revenues to the country, highlights the decision.

This is deemed the first step to legalize cryptocurrencies in Iran. Many experts believe that cryptocurrencies can be used as a means to mitigate the effects of US-imposed harsh economic sanctions against Iran.

Low-price electricity has encouraged many to mine cryptocurrencies in the country; even some reports indicate that miners from other countries such as China are establishing farms in Iran. The government is yet to approve the final price rate for miners. According to reports, the government is likely to set the exported rate for mining farms which would be around 7 cents per kilowatt-hour; currently the rate is around 2 cents.

The post Iranian govt. authorizes crypto mining appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Referring to the fact that there are no specific crypto regulations in Iran, he said that domestic mining units are working presently under the permit they received form Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Iran.

Accordingly, he urged the lawmakers to accelerate ratification of required new laws in this sector.

“The price for electricity used by miners is to increase up to 7 cents in Iran,” he said, “and it is the same tariff levied on commercial units, which is the highest tariff level.”

On Sunday, Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi urged the regularization of bitcoin mining business in Iran given the recent reports of bitcoin miners’ use of Iran’s cheap power.

The minister called for regularizing the operators which are active in crypto-currency mining and added the government should issue legal certification for them.

“Most of crypto-currency mining operations in the world used to be carried out in China but today, Iran is turning into a new hub in this area,” the minister said.

He went on to say that electricity prices in Iran are too cheap in comparison with other parts of the world, adding in some European states, the price of each kilowatt of industrial power stands at 20 cents while in Iran the figure is about 9 to 10 cents.

“This is mainly due to the gas reserves that Iran enjoys. These reserves are used freely by Iranian power plants,” he said. “This has turned Iran into an interesting country for crypto-currency miners in the world.”

He said mining machines have already been smuggled into the country and there are many active sites in this area. “I’ve heard of Chinese miners’ presence in Iran through unconfirmed reports,” he said.

“Estimates by Iran’s Energy Ministry show that 700 megawatts of the country’s power are used for mining. This violates ordinary people’s rights,” he said.

On Saturday, an Iranian lawmaker called on the government to prepare and submit a bill on cryptocurrencies while reports indicate a surge in the country’s power consumption due to bitcoin mining.

“Unfortunately, there is no specific law to monitor activities around cryptocurrencies in the country and it is essential that the government prepares a specific bill for determining the fate of cryptocurrencies’ mining, such as bitcoin, and exchanging currencies using this digital money and submit the bill to the Parliament so that the power rate of those who are mining across the country would be determined,” MP Ali Akbar Karimi, a member of Iranian Parliament’s Economic Committee, told Mehr News Agency.

“Mining cryptocurrencies has become a common and widespread activity in Iran and it consumes considerable power which has caused problems for the country, especially in the hot season.”

A mechanism should be defined to control power consumption and also to punish those who mine using subsidized power rates, he added.

The Central Bank of Iran has just announced a ban on activities around cryptocurrencies while such measure has not still turned into a law, he highlighted, adding, “using digital currencies is a good solution for ditching sanctions but it needs to be regulated.”

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