• Iran to lift the ban on Bitcoin mining after four months
  • The Iranian government had identified block reward mining as one of the biggest energy guzzlers in the country
  • Iran government expects Bitcoin and crypto mining to become a significant economic activity in the country

Four months after banning the digital currency block reward mining, the Iranian government is once again set to allow miners to operate in the country.

Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mining, and Trade had imposed restrictions on bitcoin mining in May. At that time, the ban was reportedly imposed to prevent miners from overburdening the electricity grid during the hot summer months. This is because officials in the Iranian government had identified block reward mining as one of the largest energy consumers. Additionally, they had concerns over the illegal miners, which the country is still fighting to bring down.

High energy consumption isn’t the only problem they face, as the Iranian Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (TAVANIR) has claimed that illegal miners have also been damaging power distribution systems in the country, resulting in severe blackouts.

But now, the authorities have lifted the ban allowing miners in the country to reboot their rigs starting on September 22.

Positive Outlook

Before imposing the ban, Iran had been boasting to be among the countries with the highest hash rates in the world. Iran’s market share would have increased considerably due to China’s clampdown on crypto mining. But, the ban impacted the country’s market share.

Source: BBC

The Iranian government has been accepting the crypto revolution with open hands due to economic sanctions placed on the country by the United States government.

Moreover, in 2019, the country had said that it would regulate the mining industry, requiring miners to obtain a license from the Ministry of Industries and pay for the power consumed based on export rates. Since then, the agency has issued licenses to many companies for bitcoin mining operations

As bitcoin miners in Iran will restart their operations within a month, there will be an increase in difficulty for mining bitcoin, and the total Bitcoin mining hashrate might see new all-time highs.

With all these developments, the Iranian government expects Bitcoin and crypto mining to become a significant economic activity in the country.