Image Credit: Bitcoinist

The Iranian government announced that it will temporarily ban cryptocurrency mining, which will affect licensed and unlicensed miners alike. This ban will last till September 22, 2021.

The government reached this decision after a number of blackouts hit the country’s major cities. In previous years, Iran frequently suffered power outages during summer, and while cryptocurrency mining is not the main problem, the Iranian government is eager to cut down on any aggravating factors- cryptocurrency mining being one of them. The latter consumes alot of energy, so much so that bitcoin’s network annual consumption totals to 145Twh. As of April 2020, 75% of bitcoin mining occurs in China.

Iranian President Rouhani said that legal mining operations in the country consume 300MW a day. This is small compared to the 2000MW consumed by illegal mining operations which make up 85% of the mining operations in Iran.

This ban comes during a turbulent time for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after their value plunged by about 30% in 2 weeks. India banned cyptocurrency while parts of China banned bitcoin and its operations. There have been reports that Chinese authorities are cracking down on mining operations. Huge supporter of cryptocurrency, Tesla also stopped accepting payments using bitcoin due to environmental concerns.

Published by truthisacommodity

Residing on the small island of Malta, I have developed a keen interest in foreign politics and science and in bringing truth to my audience by providing daily news! Email: info@whatnownews24.com View all posts by truthisacommodity