Legal and Criminological Analysis of Cryptocurrencies in the Iranian Legal System

Abstract

The emergence of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies constitutes one of the most significant economic and technological developments of recent decades, creating unprecedented challenges for national legal systems, particularly the Iranian legal system. The decentralized, cross-border, and pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency transactions has generated substantial uncertainty regarding the determination of their legal nature, the rules governing the ownership, transfer, and exchange of these novel assets, and the appropriate criminal-law response to cryptocurrency-related offenses. Within the Iranian legal system, policymakers have adopted a dual and, at times, contradictory approach toward cryptocurrencies. On the one hand, cryptocurrency transactions have been recognized, under Central Bank regulations and a recent unifying judicial precedent, as constituting a form of “sale” and involving “property,” while their use in certain foreign transactions and payments has also been accepted. On the other hand, prohibitions imposed by the Central Bank, along with periodic bans on cryptocurrency mining, have created considerable legal uncertainty. Employing a descriptive-analytical approach and a comparative method, this study examines the legal nature of cryptocurrencies under Imamī jurisprudence and Iranian law and compares it with international legal practices. It also provides a criminological analysis of criminogenic conditions and the challenges involved in combating cryptocurrency-related offenses, including money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and terrorist financing. The findings indicate that the absence of specific legislation, the fragmentation and inconsistency of existing regulations, ambiguity concerning the competent supervisory authority, the lack of adequate guarantee and enforcement mechanisms, and the incompatibility of existing penal policies with the technical characteristics of this technology constitute the principal challenges confronting the Iranian legal system in this field. Finally, drawing on the principles governing electronic commerce law and contemporary international standards, the proposed framework emphasizes the necessity of enacting comprehensive and specific legislation, establishing a unified regulatory authority, and adopting preventive criminological approaches, including contractual and participatory models of regulation.