Iran Moves to Restrict Crypto Exchanges Under ‘Currency Smuggling’ Laws

The Iranian government just made conduits to cryptocurrency markets riskier, and more confusing, than ever before. 

According to Iranian news outlet ArzDigital, the parliament published a proposal this week to include cryptocurrency in existing “currency smuggling” and foreign currency exchange regulations. The result of this prospective regulation is Iranian entrepreneurs face a heightened risk of being jailed by local authorities or sanctioned by Americans. 

The law would mean Iranian crypto exchanges must be licensed by the Central Bank of Iran and follow legacy foreign currency exchange guidelines, although it’s not apparent how existing exchanges should apply for licensing or adapt those fiat norms to blockchain technology. What is clear is the Iranian government is looking to quell capital outflow by preemptively justifying any moves to shut down or penalize local crypto exchanges.

However, the Iranian market doesn’t strictly consist of homegrown, over-the-counter…