Iran’s Ban on Crypto Mining to be Lifted Late Next Month

The ban on cryptocurrency mining imposed by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade will be lifted on September 22, said the state-run Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir). Back in May, former president Hassan Rouhani put a blanket ban on crypto mining until the end of summer in order to ease the pressure on the national power grid during the summer and prevent blackouts. At the time, officials blamed crypto miners for the power shortages, while industry participants said the share of legal miners in the total electricity consumption is meager. Now, it is expected that power consumption will decline by the end of summer as such legal digital currency miners can resume their operations, said Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, the spokesman for the top utility. During the summer of 2019, the government said it would legalize cryptocurrency mining. Miners were required to obtain licenses and pay their electricity bills based on export rates. 30 crypto mining units have been issued licenses by the ministry. However, unlicensed miners are reportedly using almost 2,000-3,000 MW a day, and according to Tavanir, over 212,373 mining equipment have been seized in the past 12 months. The Energy minister revised regulators in April, charging 16,574 rials ($0.39) for one kilowatt-hour. The tariff, which is four times the previous 4,800 rails ($0.11) for one kilowatt-hour, is cut by half when household consumption is low, and the grid is not under pressure. [deco-beg-single-coin-widget coin="BTC"]