Iranian Central Bank Mandates Crypto Sales from Miners Under New 2025 Regulations

Iran’s cryptocurrency miners don’t just mine Bitcoin anymore-they’re now required to sell a portion of their output directly to the Central Bank of Iran. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a legal requirement, enforced since January 2025, as part of a sweeping overhaul of the country’s digital asset rules. If you’re mining crypto in Iran, you’re no longer free to hold or trade it privately. The state now controls the flow of every coin produced on Iranian soil.

Why the Central Bank Took Control

Iran has been using crypto mining as a workaround for U.S. sanctions for years. With banks cut off from the global financial system, Bitcoin and other digital assets became a way to earn foreign currency without using dollars. But by late 2024, things got out of hand. Thousands of unlicensed mining rigs popped up across the country, sucking up electricity during rolling blackouts. In some cities, power outages lasted up to 12 hours a day-not because of drought or poor infrastructure, but because miners were running 24/7 rigs on subsidized grid power.

The government couldn’t ignore it anymore. So in January 2025, President Masoud Pezeshkian handed full control of crypto to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). No more underground farms. No more private sales. Every mining operation, big or small, now needs a license. And as part of that license, miners must surrender 30% of their daily output to the CBI at a fixed rate in rials. The rest can be sold on licensed exchanges-but only after passing strict KYC checks.

How the Mandatory Sales System Works

Here’s how it actually plays out on the ground:

• Miners register with the CBI and install government-approved monitoring software on their mining rigs.
• The software tracks every hash rate, power draw, and coin mined in real time.
• Every 24 hours, 30% of mined Bitcoin (or other approved coins) is automatically transferred to a CBI-controlled wallet.
• The remaining 70% can be sold on approved domestic exchanges, but only after the miner submits their transaction history for audit.
• Failure to comply results in immediate shutdown of equipment, fines up to 10 million rials (about $200), and possible criminal charges.

The CBI pays miners in rials at a rate tied to the black-market dollar price-not the official rate. This keeps miners from going completely underground. But it’s still a steep discount. For example, if Bitcoin trades at $70,000 on international markets, the CBI pays $50,000 per coin. That’s a 28% loss right off the top.

Who’s Running the Mines Now?

The biggest players aren’t individual hobbyists. They’re state-backed entities. Since 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has quietly taken over the mining sector. They operate massive farms in places like Rafsanjan and Kerman, using dedicated power lines that never get cut during blackouts. One 175-megawatt facility in Kerman province, built with Chinese hardware, reportedly mines over 200 Bitcoin per month.

These state-run operations don’t just mine-they launder. The CBI takes the coins, sells them overseas through intermediaries in Turkey, UAE, and Russia, and converts them into euros or yuan. That money then flows back into Iran’s economy, bypassing sanctions and funding everything from military projects to state subsidies.

Regular miners? They’re stuck in the middle. Many used to sell directly to traders on Telegram or local exchanges. Now, those channels are blocked. The CBI shut down 87 unlicensed exchanges in the first quarter of 2025. If you’re caught selling outside the system, your equipment is seized. Your home might be raided. Your bank account freezes.

Energy Crisis and Public Backlash

The government claims this system helps stabilize the grid. But the numbers don’t add up. Iran’s total mining power draw is still estimated at 2,500 megawatts-roughly 10% of the country’s total electricity production. That’s more than the entire city of Tehran uses.

In February 2025, power cuts hit 18 provinces. People blamed miners. The CBI blamed illegal operations. But here’s the truth: even licensed miners are using the same grid. The state farms get priority, but the rest? They’re still drawing power that could go to hospitals, schools, or homes.

Public anger is growing. The Iran Fintech Association, which represents digital asset startups, publicly refused to hand over user data to the CBI. They called it a violation of privacy and a death sentence for innovation. The government responded by banning all crypto advertising-online, on billboards, even on bus stops. You can’t promote a crypto exchange anymore. Not even if you’re just trying to help people hedge against inflation.

What This Means for Miners and Users

If you’re a miner in Iran, you have three choices:

1. Register with the CBI, surrender 30% of your output, and accept the fixed payment.
2. Go underground-risk fines, arrest, and equipment confiscation.
3. Stop mining entirely.

Most small miners chose option one. The ones who didn’t? They’re gone. Reports from Kerman and Isfahan suggest over 40,000 unlicensed rigs have been shut down since January.

For regular Iranians? It’s worse. You can’t buy crypto to protect your savings. You can’t send money abroad. You can’t even use it to pay for imports. The only legal way to get Bitcoin is to mine it yourself-and then sell most of it to the state. That’s why the daily trading volume on licensed exchanges has dropped by 80% since the new rules took effect.

The Bigger Picture: Sanctions, Sovereignty, and Control

Iran isn’t trying to be crypto-friendly. It’s trying to survive. The state doesn’t care about decentralization. It doesn’t care about financial freedom. It cares about one thing: keeping the economy running under sanctions.

Crypto mining is now a tool of economic warfare. The coins mined in Iran become foreign currency. That foreign currency buys food, medicine, and weapons. The CBI doesn’t just regulate mining-it uses it as a revenue stream. And the mandatory sales? They’re not a tax. They’re a forced export.

The digital rial pilot on Kish Island? That’s the next phase. The government wants to replace Bitcoin with its own state-controlled digital currency. But until that’s ready, Bitcoin is the backup plan. And miners? They’re just the fuel.

What’s Next?

The CBI is already testing a blockchain-based ledger to track every mined coin from rig to wallet. They’re talking about linking mining licenses to national ID numbers. They’re considering mandatory reporting of all crypto-related internet traffic.

One thing’s clear: Iran’s crypto experiment is no longer about technology. It’s about control. And if you’re mining in Iran, you’re not building the future. You’re feeding the state.

There’s no way out. No loophole. No gray area. The Central Bank owns the coins. And if you want to keep your rig running, you’ll sell what it makes.