Iran: Legal Bitcoin Mining Can Resume from the End of September

Tavanir – Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company – revealed that the ban on cryptocurrency mining would be lifted as early as September 22nd. The country’s authorities would allow digital asset miners to restart their operations legally, hoping to see a decline in energy consumption by the end of summer.

Crypto Mining Is Back from The End of Summer

Citing Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company, a recent report said the country will remove its temporary ban on cryptocurrency mining. Meaning that after September 22nd every legal company in the field can resume its activities.

Back in May, the Iranian government imposed strict restrictions. The officials claimed that its electricity network is under huge pressure and its sustainability is at risk. As such, they blamed cryptocurrency mining for it and implemented a total ban on all mining endeavors until September 22nd.

The spokesman of Tavanir – Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi – informed that the months with high power consumption are almost over. With that said, cooler temperatures from the start of autumn would make legal virtual asset mining possible again.

During the last few months, the government of Iran took severe measures to hunt down illegal miners and seize their operations. As CryptoPotato reported in June, the nation’s police confiscated 7,000 cryptocurrency machines in Tehran – the largest seizure of its type in the country’s borders.

In total, Tavanir stated that it had confiscated more than 212,000 units of illegal mining equipment in the last 12 months. The machinery reportedly caused losses of around $4 billion to the energy network. It is worth noting that unauthorized miners use around 2,000-3,000 MW a day, in other words, half of the daily power consumption in Tehran City.

Spies on The Side of The Government

The Iranian officials seemed determined to solve their issues with illicit cryptocurrency mining. For that purpose, the Ministry of Intelligence leaned to an unprecedented move so far – enlisting spies. Their mission: to detect and seize computer “farms” that mine digital assets without authorization.

The Ministry promised an attractive payment for the ones who manage to expose such processes. In its turn, Tavanir even raised the maximum award to 200 rials ($873), which is 7.5 times the minimum monthly wage in Iran.

Gholamali Rakhshani-Mehr – the distribution coordinator at Tavanir – reminded back then that Iran is a desirable location for crypto miners because of its subsidized energy prices. He hinted that it faces a major issue since the surge in mining generated great electricity consumption and thus energy deficiency across the entire nation.