Iran puts a temporary halt to crypto mining

Iran has banned crypto mining until March 6, in an effort to claw back over 800 megawatts of power generation that it can subsequently allocate for residential use.

Currently, in the throes of winter (where the capital, Tehran, reports temperatures from around 0-10°C), the country is facing widespread and regular blackouts from being unable to keep up with power demand. Crypto mining, which consumes around 200 megawatts of power by authorised miners, and 600 megawatts by unlicensed operators, is having a significant impact on the availability of this power.

The nation’s energy bodies expect to be able to increase production by 60 per cent moving into the summer, but this is no guarantee that crypto-mining will be allowed on a permanent basis, as this is already the second temporary shutdown this year.

Nations like Iran are struggling to keep up with the influx of crypto operators. Previously China had dominated world crypto production. However, following a ban on mining within the nation, operators started looking for nations where power was cheap to relocate. Iran has been one of the more common targets.

Along with China, the other eight nations to have completely banned crypto are Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Qatar and Tunisia. A further 42 nations prohibit financial institutions from dealing with crypto.

Source: Al Jazeera and Bloomberg