Iran accepts cryptocurrency mining as industry

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The government of Iran has accepted cryptocurrency mining as an industry in the country. In an announcement to local news outlet IBENA, Abolhassan Firouzabadi, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Cyberspace Council, said various ministries in the government had agreed to the mining proposal.

According to local reports, Firouzabadi said the government has approved mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash, among others. He added that many authorities, including the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Ministry of Energy, have supported this decision.

He further stated that the government, through the Iranian National Cyberspace Center and the Central bank, are in the process of creating a framework to regulate the newly formed industry. The two institutions have until September 22 to come up with a draft policy framework for the industry.

Firouzabadi indicated that mining is one of the most important branches of the cryptocurrency industry. He believes that the new decision will attract many key players to the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the country.

He also stated that Iran is planning to deepen the use of cryptocurrencies to grow the trade relations it has with its partners, noting that the move is expected to help protect its economy despite renewed U.S. sanctions. Finally, Firouzabadi stated that the launch of the country’s national cryptocurrency looks promising.

In August, Iran revealed that the state-backed crypto draft was ready. According to a press release made by the Central Bank, the Iranian Informatics Service Corporate (ISC) had finalized a draft of the national cryptocurrency. The release further added that the state-backed crypto would be backed by the Iranian Rial and would be issued by the Central bank. The announcement also stated that the cryptocurrency will be based on the open-source Hyperledger Fabric technology and cannot be mined.

Iran sought to redeem its economy after the nuclear deal they had with United States failed to go through. The country seems to follow Venezuela’s footstep and create a currency that is not influenced by the U.S. dollar.