Iran Banning Crypto Mining Until March 6 to Save Power: Report

It’s the second time this year Iran has taken such measures to reduce the strain on the country’s power grid.

AccessTimeIconDec 28, 2021 at 6:05 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:21 p.m. UTC
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Iran is banning authorized crypto mining in the country until March 6 in an attempt to save power and avoid blackouts this winter, according to a Bloomberg report.

  • The move will free up 209 megawatts of power for use by the country’s households, according to Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, the director of state-run Iran Grid Management Co., who was interviewed by state TV.
  • The government is also cracking down on illegal crypto mining by both individuals and larger operators, Mashhadi said, nothing that those groups consume more than 600 megawatts of electricity.
  • Iran banned all crypto mining this past summer to reduce the burden on the national power grid. An unusually dry spring has left Iran struggling with hydropower shortages.
  • The move may crimp Iran’s finances, because the country has been using locally mined cryptocurrency to bolster its revenue amid tough international sanctions.

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Nelson Wang

Nelson Wang was CoinDesk's news editor for the East Coast. He holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.


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