The Iranian government approved on Sunday a bill that recognises digital coin mining as an industrial activity, paving the way for a regulated mining business that could generate more forex revenues for Iran.
The cabinet approved the bill after the economic commission passed the bill early last week.
The bill, however, doesn’t allow the use of digital coins, such as Bitcoin, inside Iran, saying it won’t be supported by the Iranian banking system.
According to the government’s Economic Commission approval, [digital coins] mining has been recognised as an industry in the country, said Iran’s Finance and Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand on Tuesday.
“According to this commission's approval, the government recognised the phenomenon of digital currency and there won’t be any prohibition of importing mining machines from now on,” he added.
The government has been grappling with rising clandestine mining farms across Iran where people have been seizing the opportunity of very cheap Iranian electricity to mine digital coins, especially bitcoin. Iran's electricity is currently sold at less that 2.5 cents.
According to the approved plan, the miners will pay a higher price for their power consumption, that is, the government will ask the miners to pay the price according to the exported rated of Iran’s electricity.
However, it’s not known yet who what that rate will be. Iran’s Electricity Industry Spokesman Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi has told the media that the governemnt is considering asking the miners to pay in dollars “as their income is in dollars”.
According to the minister, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has been tasked with lay the legal and financial groundwork for digital coin mining in a bid to further regulate this emerging industry.