Iran To Lift Bitcoin Mining Ban In September

The state agency responsible for power generation and distribution reportedly said restrictions on bitcoin mining would be lifted next month.

The Ministry of Industries, Mining, and Trade will soon lift the restrictions on bitcoin mining imposed in May, reported the Financial Tribune. According to the Iran Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir), miners in the country will reboot their rigs starting on September 22.

Tavanir spokesman Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi reportedly said the company expects overall power consumption in Iran to decline by the end of the summer. In that case, the bitcoin mining ban effected in May by the government would be lifted for regulated companies utilizing the national power grid to mine bitcoin.

At the time, former president Hassan Rouhani said unauthorized bitcoin miners consumed a lot of electricity, about 2,000 megawatts (MW), placing a burden on the power grid, which sees significant demand in the summer months. In contrast, miners who have obtained a state permit consume only 30 MW of electricity.

The Iranian government said in 2019 that it would regulate the mining industry, requiring bitcoin miners to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Industries and pay for the power consumed based on export rates. According to the Financial Tribune, the state agency has since issued 30 licenses for bitcoin mining operations. The Semnan province received the most and houses six licensed mining farms, followed by Alborz province, which has four operations.

As Iranian bitcoin miners start getting back online in about a month, competitiveness will increase, along with the Bitcoin network total hashrate. Although hashrate has already been recovering from the Chinese mining crackdown, it might seek new all-time highs with miners in Iran getting the green light.