The Iranian government is considering tightening of the cryptocurrency industry regulation by banning the activity of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, InsideBitcoin.com first reported citing local news outlet ArzDigital.
According to ArzDigital, Iranian authorities have prepared the draft of the bill which says that Iran’s current foreign exchange and currency smuggling laws should apply to cryptocurrencies as well.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, according to the published draft, will be obliged to be registered by the Central Bank of Iran. It remains to be clarified whether the government will require exchanges that already operate in Iran to follow the same rules.
Previously iMiner, a Turkey-based crypto mining company, announced it received the green light from Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade to operate in the country.
In February, Saeed Muhammad, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, proposed to use cryptocurrencies as a way to evade US sanctions.
Iran's economy is suffering the sanctions imposed by the US after the Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018.
As a result, Iran is currently isolated from both trade and foreign investment, so cryptos have emerged as one of its only options to evade these sanctions.
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