For the past few decades, Iranian commerce has largely been fenced off from the rest of the world. This is due to the embargo levied on the rouge nation-state in retaliation for hostile actions against the United States and its allies.

As the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency economy has reached hundreds of billions of dollars, many experts wonder how the United States can prevent Iran from mining and subsequently trading cryptocurrencies in the digital marketplace.

Could the US Ban Iranian Mining Pools?

Think about the way cryptocurrency is transferred. When enthusiasts refer to the process of mining crypto, what they are really talking about is the network used to facilitate transfers between wallets.

In order to ban Iran from the global cryptocurrency mining market, there must be some sort of international firewall in place to prevent crypto mining nodes in Iran from connecting with the rest of the world.

Having such unilateral cooperation is highly unlikely. If most of the world's Bitcoin were mined in the United States, that endeavor might be possible. However, given the fact that most cryptocurrencies are mined outside of the United States, it is impossible for the US to directly ban Iran from participating in Bitcoin mining pools.

Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Act

Despite the challenges, the United States is still attempting to take action against any digital currencies that might be used in Iran. The Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Act is a proposed bill that will make it illegal for Americans and American companies to knowingly engage in cryptocurrency transactions with Iran.

Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts are watching this bills progress very closely. While Iran may not have access to the type of GPUs freely available on the American market, industry experts suggest that where there is a will, there is a way. All that is really needed for crypto mining is electricity and GPUs.

As Iran has loosened restrictions on cryptocurrencies in recent months, it's highly likely that Iran's hashing power and mining pools will continue to grow in the years to come. Experts suggest that this factor, combined with the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies, will make it very difficult to enforce any restrictions against Iran's desire to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.