In the last 48 hours, officials stormed 50 places across Iran’s capital, uncovering 3,000 unlawfully operating crypto miners, according to Tehran’s police head.
Iranian provincial police have announced that they have seized more than 7,000 crypto mining machines at a farm in Tehran, extending their assault on large and small crypto miners.
Police confiscated crypto miners operating out of an abandoned factory, according to a Tuesday report from the country’s state-run media, the Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA. Miners functioning at full capacity, according to experts on the country’s electrical system, would account for around 4% of Iran’s average daily energy usage.
General Hossein Rahimi, the Iranian capital’s police commander, said officials had discovered another 3,000 crypto miners in the last 48 hours, with 50 premises raided. He went on to say that the 7,000-rig farm discovery was the country’s largest and most substantial energy drain to date.
This operation comes after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced in May that mining of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies will be restricted in the nation until September. The steps are intended to ensure that Iranians have access to electricity throughout the summer months.
However the arrest of more than 7,000 miners may garner more media attention, police are also cracking down on the little guys – miners who operate illegally using their home’s electricity might face huge fines. According to an IRNA report today, authorities discovered four miners at a Pakdasht residence southeast of the city.
Before investigating the residence for mining rigs, authorities monitored the household’s electricity use from the outside.
Many Iranians appeared to be more open to the crypto business until the country’s energy problems led to the authorities cracking down on power-sucking miners. Crypto mining was approved as an industrial activity by lawmakers in 2019, requiring miners to be registered and regulated.
However, as Iran experiences blackouts and brownouts, and miners are frequently targeted, any use of the country’s electrical system has come under suspicion.
