The recent crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto mining in Iran has reached a new dimension, with the government banning the activity over the summer. According to a report by Bloomberg, President Hassan Rouhani announced the blanket ban on Bitcoin mining in the country in an address on state television on Wednesday. The nationwide prohibition will reportedly last until September, with the government keen on ensuring access to electricity for domestic consumption during the hot summer months, which are historically peak periods for power demand. As part of his address, President Rouhani alleged that the majority of the crypto mining …

While Iran’s regulatory relationship with Bitcoin runs hot and cold, a new report from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic indicates that regulated mining activities may be driving upwards of $1 billion in revenues and helping the country evade economic sanctions imposed by the United States. An excerpt of the report published today points to research indicating that Iran currently accounts for 4.5% of total global Bitcoin mining operations, earning the state hundreds of billions which have been used to circumvent the oil embargo in particular. “The US imposes an almost total economic embargo on Iran, including a ban on all Iranian …

The Iranian government is using intelligence officers to find and stop large-scale farms that have been set up to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Bloomberg reported on Friday. The Iranian Students’ News Agency reported the testimony of a distribution coordinator at a state-run grid operator, who said the Ministry of Intelligence had begun setting up committees across the country to find and seize crypto mining farms. Iran recently increased its efforts to curb the illicit mining of cryptocurrencies after the nation’s electricity grids began to falter under heavy consumption. The state-run energy grid operator, Tavanir, was forced to restrict power …

Iranian Cyber Police have reportedly arrested Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi, according to a tweet pinned to Estavi’s Twitter account. A rough translation of the tweet reads: “The owner of this account was arrested on charges of disrupting the economic system by order of Special Court for Economic Crimes. Official judicial authorities will provide additional information.” The same tweet is also pinned to the official account of Bridge Oracle, a Tron Network-based public oracle system. At the time of writing, the price of Bridge Oracle’s native token, BRG, has taken a sharp dive, crashing by more than 65%, according to …

The Iranian government continues to closely monitor the cryptocurrency mining industry by initiating new measures against home crypto miners, according to a new report. Mostafa Rajabi, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Energy, said that crypto mining with household electricity is not legal and, thus, home miners will have to pay heavy fines if discovered, local news agency The Tehran Times reported Sunday. Crypto miners using household energy will be also required to provide compensation for potential damages caused to the electricity network, the official stated. Rajabi said that the government has undertaken these measures in order to get a …

In a broader effort to circumvent the effects of sanctions, Iran may be attempting one of the first instances of digital currency protectionism. According to a Tweet from news outlet Iran International, The Central Bank of Iran announced a decision from the Cabinet on Wednesday decreeing that digital currencies traded in the country must have been mined, or “extracted” there as well, barring the exchange of digital assets mined abroad. While many observers have pointed out that enforcement would be nearly impossible, blockchain lawyer and advisor Fatemeh Fannizadeh noted that the ban may be aimed primarily at banks and forex …

Iran is continuing to explore the potential use of cryptocurrency as a tool for mitigating the devastating impact of economic sanctions imposed by the United States. According to a report from the English-language Iranian economic news source Financial Tribune, the Central Bank of Iran, or CBI, is authorizing banks and licensed forex shops to use cryptocurrency as payments for imports. Under its regulatory framework, the cryptocurrency must derive from licensed crypto miners only. These mining operations are officially permitted by the Iranian state as an industrial activity and require operators to secure a license from the Ministry of Industry, Mine …

After four months of closure, Iran’s largest Bitcoin mining facility is set to resume its operations. According to a report by IranWire, the decision to restart operations at the Bitcoin mining farm was due to massive financing put up by Chinese backers. Located in Rafsanjan, a city in the Kerman Province of southeast Iran, the Bitcoin (BTC) mining farm was at the center of controversy earlier in 2021. Back in January, the authorities in the province ordered the closure of the mining hub amid sweeping electricity blackouts in Iran. Indeed, the Rafsanjan Bitcoin mining center reportedly consumes 175 megawatt-hour of …

BitPay will have to pay the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control over half a million dollars for crypto services to sanctioned regions. In a Feb. 18 announcement of the settlement, OFAC said that BitPay had facilitated "approximately $129,000 worth of digital currency-related transactions with BitPay’s merchant customers" by users from Crimea, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Sudan and Syria — effectively the full range of geographical sanctions that OFAC has in place. OFAC repeated that crypto firms need to align themselves with sanctions programs, saying: "This action emphasizes that OFAC obligations apply to all U.S. persons, including those involved …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor's note “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” begins the most famous English-language story of the French Revolution. Though many would disagree with me, I would argue that neither is true of today. Maybe that’s why what passes for revolutions these days is so dependent on memes and lunatic viral conspiracy theories. That same memetic energy has brought together an unholy matrimony of anarchists, leftists, populists, jilted investment bros, Boogie boys and survivalists, AOC stans, …

Signal is reportedly under attack from Iranian authorities as interest is surging amid speculation the government already has access to users’ information on other popular messaging apps. According to Al Jazeera, many users of the privacy-focused messaging app in Iran have reported being unable to connect since Signal took the top position at the Google Play Store in the country this month. The app has already been removed from Iranian app stores Cafe Bazaar and Myket. In a tweet, Signal claimed it was “#1 on the Iranian government's block list” and working to get around the country’s attempts at censorship. …

As blackouts and police raids roil the upstart Iranian Bitcoin mining industry, a match between a permissionless currency and a country throttled by inflation that once seemed like a perfect fit is now being called into question. As Cointelegraph has previously reported, Iran joins Pakistan as a cryptocurrency superpower in the Middle East, owing in part due to cheap, heavily subsidized electricity prices, as well as a boost in activity following an approval of Bitcoin mining as an “industrial activity” for power plants in 2020. It’s been estimated that there are well over 1000 legal entities currently engaged in mining …