A proposed law drafted by the Economy Committee of the Iranian parliament aims to impose a legal framework on the use of cryptocurrencies inside the country. Regulation of mining, prohibition of cryptos as a means of domestic payment with the exception of a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) are on the program of this text.
$ 500 million in 2022
The bill, revealed by the news agency Tasnim, intends to promote “support for cryptocurrency mining”. Mining in the territory would be under the direct control of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade. It would issue licences, supervise and support mining companies. The goal ? Release some $ 500 million for the State in the next Iranian calendar year (which begins on March 21, 2022). With an expected growth of 10% per year.
To achieve this goal, lawmakers propose offering miners loans from the National Development Fund or exempting them from certain taxes and tariffs if they invest in power plants in disadvantaged areas. Because Iran, which largely subsidizes the price of electricity, lacks generating capacity in this area. This is what forced President Rouhani to ban mining until September, in the face of the blackouts that hit the country at the beginning of the summer.
Crypto payments banned in the territory
The bill, entitled “Support for cryptocurrency mining and organizing the domestic market for exchanges” would also aim, if it were to be adopted by parliament in its current version, to ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of domestic payment.
One exception : a CDBC (Central Bank Digital Currency), minted by the Central Bank of Iran (BCI) could be allowed to circulate.
A way for Iran to retain the sovereignty of its central bank. Which would become, according to the text filed, the sole regulatory body of the crypto market.
It would continue to authorize, with greater supervision, a practice that already exists in the country : the payment, by banks, of imports in cryptocurrencies. It is through this means that Iran manages to circumvent the sanctions imposed on the country by Trump in 2015. A use of cryptos of which Venezuela, also under sanctions from the US administration, has demonstrated the relevance.
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