Iran Bans Bitcoin Mining Until March

Publish date:

Dec 28, 2021

• Iran has restricted bitcoin mining operations for the 2nd clip this year.
• Licensed miners are required to unopen down until March.
• Excessive vigor request has led to little powerfulness sent to concern consumers.

Iran has erstwhile again ordered bitcoin miners to unopen down to easiness powerfulness request connected the country’s vigor grid during the wintertime months. Licensed miners are expected to person the greenish airy to resume operations successful March 2022.

Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, manager of the state-run Iran Grid Management Co. and a spokesperson for Iran’s powerfulness industry, said the measures volition beryllium successful spot until March 6 successful an effort to trim the hazard of blackouts and guarantee powerfulness stableness to households crossed the country, according to a Bloomberg report.

Bitcoin miners volition escaped up an estimated 209 megawatts of powerfulness by shutting down implicit the adjacent fewer months. Other powerfulness rationing measures being leveraged by Iran’s authorities see turning disconnected thoroughfare lights successful immoderate areas and restricting vigor usage successful offices, the study said.

“Authorities are besides cracking down connected amerciable mining carried retired by some individuals astatine location and larger-scale concern units,” per the report. “These unlicensed operators relationship for the largest stock of crypto mining successful the country, consuming much than 600 megawatts of electricity.”

The Iranian authorities took akin measures to chopped down vigor depletion successful May. A temporary ban was enactment successful spot to curtail the powerfulness usage of bitcoin miners implicit the summertime arsenic authorized and unauthorized operations were estimated to devour astir 2,300 MW of electricity. Miners were granted support to travel backmost online successful October, arsenic the ban was lifted and operations resumed.

“Iran’s regular state request successful the household assemblage soared to an unprecedented 570 cardinal cubic meters per time for the archetypal clip connected record, portion the state has ‘maxed out’ its earthy state accumulation astatine 800 cardinal cubic meters a day, according to a National Iranian Gas Co. connection past week,” the study said. “The excessive request has forced a simplification successful energy proviso to concern units.”