An Iranian senior government, official Nasser Hakimi, has recently confirmed that Buying and selling cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) is illegal in the country. The government official made this known via local news media.
Iran is Strongly Against Crypto Trading
Hakimi, who is the current deputy governor for new technologies at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), made it clear that trading bitcoin in the country is an offence punishable by law.
To back up his statements, Hakimi also cited a related prohibition by the Supreme Council of Combating and Preventing Money laundering and Financing of Terrorism Crimes which is a local anti-money laundering (AML) authority.
In the interview where he made this known, Hakimi made sure to issue a clear cut warning to the general public. He warned Iranians to desist from trading any form of crypto. He warned against the legal and investment risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. He also made sure to note the increased level of volatility associated with bitcoin especially.
Furthermore, Hakimi expressed his concerns regarding how crypto scams and pyramid schemes are being advertised to the general public. The issue of the need for distinction between developing cryptos and trading was also discussed during the interview.
The Iranian government official’s statement doesn’t come as a surprise. Recently, Iran announced that it will be cutting power to cryptocurrency mining until an alternative energy method and pricing has been adopted. This is following a report from a local energy official as regards an abnormal spike of electricity consumption which was traced back to increased mining of crypto.
To show that it truly means businesses, the Iranian government has seized around 1,000 bitcoin miners from two now-defunct farms in late June.
A Smart Move?
This sanction by the Iranian government could really affect the flow of money in and out of the country’s economy, with the U.S sanction still in place. Reportedly, Iranians now depend a lot on crypto trading to conduct international transactions, with the ongoing inflation of the local fiat currency, Iranian rial (IRR) and the U.S boycott.
coindoo.com is author of this content, TheBitcoinNews.com is is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Our Social Networks: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Reddit Telegram Twitter Youtube
