The ban is with immediate effect and may be lifted by September 22nd
The Iranian government has banned mining of cryptocurrencies in the country following several power outages caused by crypto mining.
This was announced on Wednesday by the President, Hassan Rouhani on live TV. He says it will take immediate effect.
Iran mines about 3.4% of Bitcoin making it the 6th in the global ranking. There are 50 licensed mining centres in 14 provinces and they use about 209 megawatts of electricity, according to grid operator Tavanir in a statement on Wednesday.
There are still many unlicensed miners scattered across 31 provinces with many of them hiding in power subsidized areas like homes and mosques. These unlicensed miners make up to 85% of crypto miners in the country. Government says it’s cracking down on them.
What You Need to Know
Bitcoin, and indeed all other cryptocurrencies started experimenting Dip in April after Elon Musk twitted the Tesla’s plan to suspend acceptance of Bitcoin for payment of it’s electric car, citing environmental concerns, and plans to accept Dogecoin as alternative to Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin plummet went further following China’s ban on the crypro trading using banks for transaction payments and settlements. China says the digital assets have no real value, drives inflation as they are unregulated and are driven by speculations and mere twitting. According to University of Cambridge, China is home to 69.3% Bitcoin making.
The UK government is also planning to ban cryptocurrencies or introduce its own government approved digital currency.
Cryptocurrencies Continue to Lose Value as Bill Gates Predicts Total Collapse of Bitcoin
Bitcoin has lost about 40% value in less than a month, and it currently sold below $40,000.