Iran halts Bitcoin mining to preserve energy for the winter

Iran is one of the leading Bitcoin mining hubs. Due to the high amount of energy used during mining activities, authorities have now urged local crypto miners to temporarily halt their operations during the winter months.

A notice issued by the Iranian Ministry of Energy ordered local miners to suspend their operations as the country experiences electricity shortages in one of the coldest months of the year.

Iran temporarily halts crypto mining

This is the second time Iranian authorities have taken measures to halt crypto mining. The authorities had issued a similar warning between May and September 2021.

The Iranian government has blamed electricity blackouts on crypto mining activities in the past. In May, the country suspended Bitcoin mining, noting that the high amounts of energy needed during the hottest month of the year would cause electricity blackouts if Bitcoin mining activities continued.

The suspension ended on September 22 after the hot weather ended. The local Ministry of Energy has now imposed a similar ban during the winter season, noting that energy consumption would rise to high levels.

The chair of Iran’s Grid Management Company (Tavanir), Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, commented on this saying, “The Energy Ministry has been implementing measures since last month to reduce the use of liquid fuels in power plants, including cutting licensed crypto farms’ power supply, turning off lampposts in less risky areas, and stringent supervision of consumption.”

Mashhadi noted that suspending Bitcoin mining activities was needed because as the temperatures dropped, the level of energy consumption in the country would increase, which would affect Iran’s energy network.

Iran has been strict in enforcing bans on crypto mining. In June, the country confiscated around 7000 crypto mining equipment in a factory in Tehran.

Mining activities recover after China ban

After China banned Bitcoin mining earlier this year, many mining firms moved to overseas markets, and Iran is one of the leading crypto mining locations. The country accounts for between 3% to 4% of the Bitcoin mining hash rate.

The US is currently the largest Bitcoin mining hub, as it accounts for 35.4% of the Bitcoin network’s mining hash rate. Kazakhstan and Russia account for 18.1% and 11.2% of the mining hash rate. Canada comes in fourth with 9.6%.

After the China ban on mining, the hash rate was largely affected because many mining firms were forced to shut down.  However, the current data shows that the metric has fully recovered, as many mining firms are back online.

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