Iranian authorities seize more than 9000 rigs from miners in 5 months

The country continues to ban cryptocurrency mining due to power shortages

23.08.2022 - 12:10

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2 min

What’s new? Since the beginning of the Persian calendar year (March 21, 2022), Iranian police have discovered and confiscated 9404 illegal cryptocurrency mining devices in various areas of the capital. Most of the rigs, about 7000, were confiscated in June. This is reported by Iran International, citing a statement by Kambiz Nazerian, head of Tehran Electricity Distribution Company.

News on the Iran International website

What is known about mining in Iran? In recent months, the Iranian authorities have repeatedly imposed restrictions on cryptocurrency mining and accused miners of the growing demand for electricity. Severe heat in the summer of 2022 led to water shortages and intermittent power cuts, causing protests among the population.

To combat the increased demand, Iran banned cryptocurrency mining for four months in May and cut off electricity to 118 licensed miners in June. The embargo is expected to be lifted in September.

In July, almost all industrial miners suspended operations in Texas at the request of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), as high temperatures in the state could create a critical load on the power grid.

In August, it became known that the volume of electricity consumption for mining in Russia increased almost 20 times in 5 years: from 64,05 MW in 2017 to 1245,34 MW in 2021. The share of cryptocurrency mining in the structure of energy consumption of the Russian Federation ranged from 0,64% to 2%.

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