Unlawful crypto mining not the reason for energy shortages in Iran, ministry says

Iran’s Ministry of Business, Mine and Commerce reportedly dismissed claims by main energy firm Tavanir that blamed unlawful cryptocurrency miners for the continued energy shortages within the nation.

In keeping with a report by the Monetary Tribune, Alireza Hadi, the ministry’s director of funding and planning, stated that the figures introduced by Tavanir “appear to be extremely exaggerated.” Hadi questioned Tavanir’s claims that unlawful mining actions eat 2,00zero megawatts of energy. “This quantity would equal energy utilized by three million items of {hardware},” he stated.

Whereas mining cryptocurrency has been legalized by the Iranian authorities, Tavanir blames unregistered miners for nationwide energy shortages. In August 2021, Tavanir spokesperson Rajabi Mashhadi stated:

“Unauthorized miners are the principle culprits behind the facility outages in current months. We’d have had 80% much less blackouts if miners had halted their actions.”

Tavanir additionally claims to have shut down operations for over 5,00zero mining farms along with confiscating 213,00zero unauthorized mining {hardware} that was able to consuming 850 megawatts.

Up to now, Iran’s Ministry of Business, Mine and Commerce has licensed 56 mining farms that collectively eat 400 megawatts, in accordance with Tanavir’s estimate. In 2020, the ministry licensed and registered 126,00zero items of mining tools, which consumed 195 megawatts when operating at full capability.

Associated: The Iranian authorities took down over a thousand crypto mining farms

Final 12 months, whistleblowers helped Tavanir shut down 1,100 crypto mining farms that allegedly didn’t have correct licenses.

Iranian residents who assist the authorities observe down unlawful miners have been awarded 100 million rials ($480) as a bounty. Though Iran has accepted registered companies to conduct mining operations, authorities had warned crypto miners to register their enterprise and tools earlier than the tip of 2020.