Blockchain Camp (ID: blockchain_camp)
Blockchain Camp (ID: blockchain_camp), Author: PETER CHAWAGA, Translator: Huohuojiang, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.Late last month, Iran Daily, the official newspaper of the Iranian government, reported that amid growing pressure on the country to use hard currency normally, the government had amended its cryptocurrency regulations to make digital assets exclusively for imported goods .In practice, this means that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies officially mined under government supervision will have to be supplied directly to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) within authorized limits, which will depend in part on subsidies used by miners amount of energy.
- According to the Iran Daily, “miners should provide raw cryptocurrency directly to channels introduced by the CBI within authorized limits.”
- The report did not say how or at what exchange rate the CBI will buy the cryptocurrency, but it is likely that the government will buy Bitcoin at a lower than market price.
- This latest development in Iranian policy is closely related to the formation of the most interesting cryptocurrency landscape in the world:
- Last year, Iran legalized cryptocurrency mining and instituted strict regulations to monitor it.
Alternatives to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, are attractive to Iran’s regime as economic sanctions by the U.S. and other countries have largely banned transactions between Iran’s own currency and the world’s reserve fiat currencies.
With the Iranian fiat currency, the rial, facing hyperinflation, the people of Iran are looking for an alternative store of value.
To get a clearer picture of what this latest amendment means for the use of Bitcoin in Iran, I reached out to Ziya Sadr, a Bitcoin enthusiast living in Tehran, as the government “would not give passport", so never left Iran. I also interviewed Omid Alavi, CEO of Vira Miner, who holds a mining license and runs a legal Bitcoin mining farm in Iran.Is Iran Building a Bitcoin Reserve?Allawi said: "The government has no interest in acquiring Bitcoin, and Iran is by no means the only country with this attitude. Most central banks in the world are unwilling to accept the risks and volatility of Bitcoin."
Sadr echoed this view, while stressing that he had no inside knowledge of the CBI's actual plans.
Sadr speculated that the government will establish a cryptocurrency management system similar to its foreign exchange management system, or NIMA. He said: "I don't think the central bank will touch bitcoin in any way. The system will only provide information such as exchange rates, and bitcoin will be transferred directly from the sender to the receiver." The Central Bank of Iran will control the NIMA exchange rate, And to facilitate the exchange of foreign currencies, but not through it to build foreign exchange reserves.Will New Regulations Disincentivize Bitcoin Miners?Sadr noted that the latest amendment could address a problem faced by the country’s regulated bitcoin miners: pressure from the government when they want to sell their bitcoin rewards. He believes that the amendment should not be seen as a restriction on miners - miners must sell bitcoins to the government to obtain funds; Sell cryptocurrencies in an approved manner. However, since this does not apply to the majority of Bitcoin miners operating in Iran, it may not have much impact overall.Allawi, on the other hand, hopes that the latest amendment will stop cryptocurrency mining operations in Iran.
He said, “Due to the high electricity and gas prices for mining cryptocurrencies in Iran, this new regulation will lead to a reduction in Iran’s bitcoin production, because miners will not want to provide their bitcoins to the government at this price. .”
Allawi also added that the Bitcoin mining industry in Iran is "very limited," with only 14 legal mining centers across the country.Prospects for Bitcoin in IranDespite the fact that the government itself is not interested in acquiring bitcoin and that the legal mining industry is small, Sadr remains optimistic about the development of bitcoin in the daily lives of ordinary Iranians. This is due to Iran's own basic economic problems. After all, a smartphone may cost Iranians 8 to 9 months' wages. He shared with us some anecdotal evidence: More and more people are using Bitcoin to send money to family in Iran and use it as a store of value, and people are gradually moving away from gold, the traditional store of value asset Come on, gold will make them a target for criminals after all.Al-Sadr said: "People now understand that in Iran, in terms of income and taxation, it is better to use bitcoin than fiat currency. I predict that bitcoin will take a greater share of this type of economic activity... ...as far as inflation is concerned, people have no choice but Bitcoin.”
