Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Abdolnaser Hemmati has announced at an event on digital currencies in Tehran that the government intends to regulate digital currencies and cryptocurrencies instead of putting limitations on them, as the Central Bank of Iran announced the regulation of crypto exchanges and crypto custodians under its new crypto framework.

Hemmati said that Iran is moving towards regulating and eliminating the adverse effects of digital currency on the economy and instead using its positive effects. He cited the advantages and progress of digital currency as the reasons behind the decision.

While Hemmati noted that digital money, including digital currencies is within the scope of the Central Bank of Iran, he believes that developing and growth this asset sector will bring on youth employment, as well as to help nullify the effect of sanctions.

At the same event, The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) recently approved a “Policy and Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrencies”, reaffirming its role as the primary regulator. The framework emphasizes licensing crypto brokers and custodians under CBI supervision while ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations, and tax obligations.

The Central Bank of Iran Governor Mohammadreza Farzin highlighted collaboration with other agencies, such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, to develop robust regulatory mechanisms for the digital asset ecosystem.

According to the official, the mentioned framework focuses on active regulation and leveraging digital currencies’ economic potential.

In 2018, Iran banned trading and possession of cryptocurrency due to money laundering and terrorism financing concerns. [1] All Iranian financial institutions, such as banks, credit institutions, and currency exchanges, were banned from handling cryptocurrencies or promoting them in any way. [2] In 2019, however, the government began to roll back this ban as sanctions were crippling their local currency. Cryptocurrency was seen as a possible relief from reliance on the United States dollar. [3] The Central Bank of Iran’s new regulations allow for the possession and mining of cryptocurrency but still included a ban on using digital currency as a payment system. [4] Further, “it bars Iranians from holding large amounts of global cryptocurrencies in the same way they are officially prohibited from holding more than 10,000 euros.” [5] Towards the end of 2020, the Iranian government once again began exploring the possibility of reimplementing more controls on cryptocurrency as the price of Bitcoin was soaring, and the Iranian stock market and currency were severely falling. [6] The only change that has happened to the regulations so far is more restrictions on cryptocurrency miners due to heavy energy usage. [7]