Iran: New Crypto Law Requires Selling Bitcoin Directly to Central Bank to Fund Imports

Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)
Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)
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Iran: New Crypto Law Requires Selling Bitcoin Directly to Central Bank to Fund Imports

Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)
Gold-plated souvenir Bitcoins. (AFP)

Iran has resorted to a new crypto currency regulation that required licensing bitcoin miners to sell their coins directly to the Central Bank for use to fund imports.

Reports published by bitcoins.com said the Iranian government has amended its crypto currency regulation to enable the country’s central bank to fund imports with bitcoin legally mined in the country.

Also, the IRNA news agency reported that the government has introduced those regulations in order to allow crypto miners to redirect their coins to the country’s finance mechanism for international trades.

“The Ministry of Energy is tasked with defining a ceiling for output of authorized crypto units subject to the energy consumed by each unit. Miners’ output should not exceed the ceiling,” the news agency wrote, adding that the central bank will soon announce details of the new law.

Meanwhile, the Mehr news agency quoted Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, deputy head of Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) and the spokesperson for the power industry, as saying: “These crypto currencies can be exchanged according to the regulations set by the central bank.”

Presstv, an Iranian state-owned news network, said that miners are supposed to supply the original crypto currency directly and within the authorized limit to the channels introduced by the central bank.

“The legal cap for the amount of crypto currency for each miner would be determined by the level of the subsidized energy used for mining and based on instructions published by the Ministry of the Energy,” it said.

Crypto currency analyst Alireza Shamkhi told ISNA news agency that the new law is vague and ambiguous.

He said it does not state how the central bank will price crypto currencies or the exchange rate between dollars and rials.

Previously, miners could exchange their crypto currencies for dollars, rials or other currencies at market prices.

“The requirement for miners to report their output to the central bank is not seen in other industries, concluding that the new law will likely reduce the industry’s attractiveness and significantly lower miners’ profit margin,” said Shamkhi.

Iran has issued over 1,000 licenses to crypto miners, including one to the Turkish bitcoin mining giant Iminer.



UK Hosts European Ministers for Ukraine Talks after Ceasefire Ultimatum

The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP
The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP
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UK Hosts European Ministers for Ukraine Talks after Ceasefire Ultimatum

The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP
The so-called "Weimar+" group is expected to meet in the UK to discuss a potential ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP

The UK will on Monday host European ministers for "critical" talks on "repelling Russian aggression", two days after Ukraine's allies demanded that Moscow accept a ceasefire.

Representatives from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the EU will join Foreign Secretary David Lammy in London for a meeting of the so-called "Weimar+" group.

The coalition was set up in February in response to shifting US policy towards the war between Ukraine and Russia, and European security in general under President Donald Trump, AFP said.

The meeting follows Saturday's visit by the leaders of France, Germany, Poland and the UK to Kyiv, where they called for Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to allow for peace talks -- a proposal they said was backed by the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, but did not respond to the European call for a 30-day ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be prepared to meet Putin in Türkiye, but did not say whether he would still attend if Russia refused the European proposal.

The London meeting, where Lammy is expected to announce further sanctions targeting those backing Russia's invasion, will be the sixth gathering of the Weimar+ group and the first hosted by the UK.

'Existential' challenge

The talks will cover "repelling Russian aggression and bolstering European security", said the UK Foreign Office.

They will focus on "both our joint efforts to strengthen European security and securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine", it added. 

Lammy will be joined by his German, Spanish and Polish counterparts, while France will be represented by its minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas will also attend.

European leaders are "facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent", said Lammy.

"The challenge we face today is not only about the future of Ukraine -– it is existential for Europe as a whole," he said ahead of the talks.

"I have brought our friends and partners to London to make clear that we must stand together, allied in our protection of sovereignty, of peace and of Ukraine," he added.

Ceasefire plan

European leaders have reacted with skepticism to Putin's proposal for direct talks in Istanbul, with French President Emmanuel Macron warning that he was merely trying "to buy time".

"An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations, by definition," he told reporters as he stepped off a train in the Polish city of Przemysl on his return from Ukraine.

He reiterated his position in a statement from the Elysee later Sunday, insisting on "necessity for a ceasefire" before talks between Putin and Zelensky.

In a phone call with Lammy on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington's "top priority remains bringing an end to the fighting and an immediate ceasefire", State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

Kyiv and its allies had feared that Trump was pivoting towards Moscow because he had clashed with Zelensky. But Trump has recently expressed growing impatience with Putin.