The latest crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto mining in Iran has reached a brand new dimension with the federal government banning the exercise over the summer time.
In line with a report by Bloomberg, President Hassan Rouhani introduced the blanket ban on Bitcoin mining within the nation in an tackle on state tv on Wednesday.
The nationwide prohibition will reportedly final till September with the federal government eager on making certain entry to electrical energy for home consumption throughout the scorching summer time months that are traditionally peak intervals for energy demand.
As a part of his tackle, President Rouhani alleged that almost all of the crypto mining exercise in Iran — as much as 85% — was unlicensed. Certainly, Cointelegraph not too long ago reported on a crackdown by the authorities on miners utilizing electrical energy meant for family consumption.
Iran started a means of nationalizing its crypto mining sector again in 2020 after months of coping with unlawful crypto mining actions. Again in January 2020, the nation issued about 1,00zero licenses for cryptocurrency mining within the nation.
Earlier in Might, stories emerged of Iranian intelligence on the hunt for unlawful large-scale crypto mining operations within the nation.
Crypto miners have been linked to sweeping blackouts in Iran. Again in April, Chinese language traders rebooted the nation’s largest Bitcoin mining facility after being shut down for 4 months amid complaints that the farm was consuming a big portion of the native electrical energy provide.
Other than disruptions to electrical energy provide, the uptick in crypto mining exercise in Iran has additionally been linked with the nation’s worsening air high quality.
President Rouhani’s ban could placed on a dent on projections of Bitcoin mining offering $1 billion annual income for the regime in Tehran. Iran’s crypto adoption drive has been seen by many as a method to bypass crippling financial sanctions imposed by the USA.
Iran’s crypto mining crackdown comes swiftly on the heels of stories of a broader cryptocurrency mining prohibition in China. In the meantime, miners in North America are reportedly in search of methods to maneuver in direction of extra environmentally pleasant operations.