Iranian crypto miners allowed to stop production “totally”

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Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran’s first vice president under Hassan Rouhani, called on all cryptocurrency miners operating legally in the country to stop producing coins.

According to a report released by the Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday, Jahangiri said in a meeting with Energy Ministry officials that electricity restrictions for Iranians are expected to continue until early this month. August, allegedly in accordance with Rouhanis’ previously announced ban on crypto mining. The president said in May that crypto mining would be banned in the country until September in an effort to conserve energy during the summer months.

We will ensure that the electricity is not cut in essential and important places, Jahangiri said. Authorized minors must also stop production completely.

Crypto and Bitcoin (BTC) mining as an industrial activity has been legal in Iran since 2019, as long as miners are licensed and regulated accordingly. However, scores of unlicensed miners, some with only a few platforms, and one with as many as 7,000 have illegally tapped the country’s power grid, apparently forcing authorities to raid homes and shut down operations.

Related: Iran Bill Could Ban All Cryptocurrencies Mined Abroad

As the crackdown progresses, the Iranians continue to report restrictions on the use of electricity. On Tuesday, Mohammad Shariatmadari, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Protection, said electricity had been cut off at his home for two hours. Iranian authorities who discover crypto miners are using energy from their homes to power platforms may impose fines on owners or seize equipment.

Some lawmakers have also pushed to ban the use of payments with cryptocurrencies that have not been mined within Iran’s borders. Last week, the Iranian Parliament’s Economics Committee proposed a bill that would make the country’s central bank the regulatory authority for the exchange of cryptocurrencies in the country and officially place the mining of cryptocurrency under the regulatory supervision of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade.

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