Iran Begins Licensing Bitcoin Miners Under Revised Regulatory System

Iran has begun issuing cryptocurrency mining permits in accordance with the new complete and exact legal framework established last week.

The government has previously awarded permits to a small number of cryptocurrency mining companies, but the process was delayed due to power consumption and illegal mining issues.

The Islamic Republic enacted a set of extensive and precise crypto legislation, including provisions for crypto mining, during a meeting last week.

According to local media, Reza Fatemi Amin, Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, has declared that his ministry is now authorized to resume issuing crypto mining permits.

"To begin mining bitcoin in Iran, a company needs first obtain an establishment license and an operating license," he was quoted as saying. 

The former identifies the entity as a legitimate crypto miner, while the latter authorizes it to begin mining."

Mohsen Rezaei Sadrabadi, the secretary of the government's working group on cryptocurrencies, gave some specifics of the recently approved crypto regulatory framework, stating that mining centers can now apply for licenses and use mined bitcoins to pay for imports.

He emphasized that the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Commerce is responsible for issuing permits for crypto mining and that the new legal framework contains provisions for large-scale crypto mining operations.

There are further regulations addressing the mining industry's electricity supply, with renewable energy given priority.

In addition, Sadrabadi claimed that the government has decided to make the central bank the industry's primary regulator.

However, he contends that crypto regulation should be multidimensional and that a single regulator should not oversee the entire business, given that the crypto ecosystem consists of more than just cryptocurrencies.

Iran's central bank barred domestic crypto trading just three years ago, but the government legalized crypto mining as an industry.

Then, a regulatory framework was formed, mandating that crypto miners obtain a license, identify themselves, pay higher electricity rates, and sell their mined cryptocurrency directly to the government.

Iran relaxed a number of limitations in July to make it simpler for cryptocurrency miners to acquire renewable energy.

In December 2021, the Iranian government ordered licensed cryptocurrency miners to temporarily cease operations due to severe winter weather wreaking havoc on the country's electricity grid.

The national electrical utility then issued a four-month ban on cryptocurrency mining in May, but the embargo was lifted in mid-September after licensed cryptocurrency mining facilities voluntarily ceased operations to alleviate pressure on the power system.