thecoinrepublic.com
- Once again, mining organizations in Iran have been ordered to halt their activities to prevent winter blackouts and cope with increasing demand in winters.
- In Iran, the mining community isn’t happy with restrictions, claiming that licensed activities consume only 300 megawatts while illegal ones consume about 3,000 megawatts every day.
- The Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission company claimed that they have closed over 6,000 illegal crypto mining farms and have seized over 220,000 mining machinery equipment.
The licensed miners in Iran have been ordered by authorities to cease all mining activities, or it might result in a shortage of electricity throughout the country in cold winters. This isn’t the first time that mining activities have been suspended in Iran. Same orders were given in the recent summer, and mining organizations were permitted to recommence activities later in September.
Upcoming months will bring low temperatures, and the Iranian government expects the electricity consumption to escalate all over the country. This might even cause shortages or blackouts, and to avoid such problems, the government has initiated taking steps to save energy and limit power consumption, measures of which will majorly affect the constantly growing crypto mining industry. The same situation was observed in the country a few months ago.
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As reported by Financial Tribune, a non-governmental English-language business newspaper organization in Iran, the Iran Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission company, Tavanir, has asked all cryptocurrency mining organizations to halt their activities and remove the power supply from their power-hungry hardware equipment. Also, IRIB, a state-controlled media corporation, was informed by Tavanir’s spokesperson, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, that, starting the previous month, the Ministry of Energy is constantly making efforts to minimize the liquid fuels consumption in power plants.
Other Safety Measures Involved
The officials concerning the order explained that cutting down power supply for licensed crypto mining organizations is just one of the actions included in the bigger goal. Strict consumption supervision and switching off lamp posts at night in safe areas are other viable activities involved. The responsible authority believes that they might face winter blackouts due to high electricity demand, and these safety steps might avoid such scenarios.
Tavanir’s spokesperson further explained that power plants in Iran had saved some portion of fuel for the upcoming few months, but still, individuals and families are suggested to keep an eye on their electricity and gas consumption.
The order for mining organizations to halt their activities isn’t the first one. Back in May, increasing electricity demand and inadequate supply caused by hot weather led authorities in Tehran to initiate a temporary ban on crypto mining activities. Activities concerning crypto mining were blamed together with hot weather for the supply shortage. Moving ahead in the year, the dropping temperatures reduced power consumption, and in September, the ban was lifted, allowing organizations to resume mining.
Community Arguments
The local community of crypto wasn’t happy and argued that estimations clearly highlight that licensed organizations consume about 300 megawatts of power, whereas illegal mining activities consume around 3,000 megawatts every single day.
As per reports, Bitcoin mining was made legal in 2019, and a licensing regime was introduced for the businesses involved in this sector. But, being a registered crypto mining farm, the entity was bound to purchase the needed power at increased export rates, due to which a lot many miners in Iran chose to stay underground and consume the regular household electricity.
From the activities going on in Iran, many believe that Tavanir has decided to go after major underground mining activities. The reports from Iranian media revealed that the state-controlled authority has closed 6,000 crypto mining farms operating illegally and seized more than 220,000 mining equipment. The responsible individuals and groups behind illegal mining activities are now charged with fines and other penalties for damaging the national distribution network.