Authorities in Iran have shut down close to 7,000 unauthorized facilities for cryptocurrency mining in the past two years, local media revealed. According to a report, most of the illegal bitcoin farms were concentrated in five provinces of the Islamic Republic, including Tehran.
Iran Continues Crackdown on Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Mining
Iranian officials have unplugged and dissolved a total of 6,914 crypto farms operating without mining licenses. This has been the case since authorities began cracking down on illegal cryptocurrency mining in 2020, Iran’s English-language daily Financial Tribune reported this week.
The newspaper quotes a report by Iribnews.ir, which details that these facilities have burned some 645 megawatts of electrical power while minting digital currencies without permission. It has been estimated this equals the annual consumption of three major regions — North Khorasan, South Khorasan, and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari.
Cryptocurrency mining has been a legal industrial activity in Iran for almost three years now, after the government approved regulation of the sector in July 2019. A licensing regime has been introduced and companies that want to get involved in the company must obtain the authorization of the ministry. of Industries.
However, as registered crypto miners are required to buy the electrical energy they need at higher, export rates, many Iranian miners have opted to remain under the radar. They usually connect illegally to the grid and use subsidized electricity to power their mining hardware.
Iran’s Electricity Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) has cracked down on underground crypto farms, shutting them down and confiscating hundreds of thousands of mining machines. If identified, their operators can be fined for damage to the distribution network and a report revealed last month that the government was preparing to increase penalties.
The country’s electricity shortages last summer were partially blamed on increased electricity usage for coin minting and even licensed miners were asked to shut down their equipment. They were allowed to resume operations in September but then again ordered to suspend activities in the face of a growing power deficit in the cold winter months.
