Iran expected to lift Bitcoin mining ban next month

Iran, which imposed a temporary ban on Bitcoin mining a few months ago, is expected to lift the prohibition next month, according to local media reports.

Fast facts

• The Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company told the state-run ISNA that the ban will be lifted on Sept. 22, local English media Financial Tribune reported.

• Iran imposed the four-month ban in May, with all licensed crypto miners urged to stop operating as the country continued to suffer power outages.

• Last month, Iran News Wire reported that some Iranians had taken to the streets in several cities, including Tehran, to protest against the blackouts.

• Iran took up 4.64% of the global Bitcoin mining average hashrate in April, before it imposed the ban, according to data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.

• Meanwhile, the country’s tax authority is pushing to legalize crypto exchanges. The Iranian National Tax Authority has proposed legalizing digital asset exchanges in order to better collect tax from them, local media outlet Eghtesad News reported earlier this month.