Antalet brutna illegala kryptogruvgårdar i Iran närmar sig 7,000

Myndigheterna i Iran har stängt av nära 7,000 otillåtna anläggningar för brytning av kryptovaluta under de senaste två åren, lokala medier avslöjade. Enligt en rapport, de flesta av de illegala bitcoin-gårdarna var koncentrerade till fem provinser i den islamiska republiken, including Tehran.

Iran Continues Crackdown on Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Mining

Iranian officials have unplugged and disbanded a total of 6,914 crypto farms operating without a mining license. This since authorities started clamping down on the illegal extraction of cryptocurrencies in 2020, the English-language Iranian daily Financial Tribune unveiled 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 regulations for the sector in July 2019. A licensing regime was introduced and companies that want to get involved in the business need to obtain authorization from the Ministry of Industries.

i alla fall, 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 Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tak) has been going after underground crypto farms, closing them down and confiscating hundreds of thousands of mining machines. If identified, their operators can be fined for damages inflicted on the distribution network and a report revealed last month that the government is preparing to increase the 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 stänga av their equipment. They were allowed to resume operations in September but then again beställde to suspend activities in the face of a growing power deficit in the cold winter months.

Do you expect Iran to continue to crack down on unlicensed crypto mining? Berätta för oss i kommentarsfältet nedan.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev är en journalist från teknikkunniga Östeuropa som gillar Hitchens citat: "Att vara författare är vad jag är, snarare än vad jag gör." Förutom krypto, blockchain och fintech, internationell politik och ekonomi är två andra inspirationskällor.

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