The extreme heat of the summer has subsided, so crypto mining has been given the green light as it can no longer be blamed for stressing the electricity grid.
The Iranian government will allow licensed cryptocurrency miners to resume operations today following a three-month ban imposed by former President Hassan Rouhani on May 26th, 2021.
An estimated 4.5% to 7% of the world’s cryptocurrency mining is done in Iran. It may come as little surprise that Iran boasts some of the cheapest electricity prices in the world thanks to abundant fossil fuel resources such as natural gas.
There are some reports that suggests the country looks favorably on Bitcoin mining as a way to evade sanctions from the United States. Iran currently suffers from a near-complete embargo by the USA, negatively affecting the nation’s economy. At current estimated levels of mining in Iran, revenues are estimated by Elliptic via Reuters to be around $1 billion.
Despite the ban, underground mining reportedly continued and on Wednesday news broke that Ali Sahraee, the director of Teheran’s Stock Exchange (TSE), had resigned after the state-run media reported that cryptocurrency mining was taking place at the exchange during the ban.
TSE leadership first denied the existence of the mining operation, but later executive deputy director Beheshti-Sarsht admitted that the TSE should be held accountable for the operation.