The immense crypto market growth inspired many countries to establish rules and regulations for Bitcoin use and mining. Iran is the last one to allow authorized mining but severely punish the illegal operations.
Iran Wants to Save Energy Supply
One of the main reasons Iran wants to deal with illegal crypto miners is to save the country’s energy supply.
Therefore, the Iranian government plans to implement a new set of regulations to increase the penalty for illegal BTC mining.
The new regulations will involve jailing and revoking the business license of illegal miners, according to a senior official from the country’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company.
The fines will be increased by a minimum of three and a maximum of five times as well. The officials say that using the subsidized electricity to mine crypto negatively affects the quality of the country’s electricity supply and destroys people’s devices such as refrigerators, AC units, and television.
This is why mining crypto with the electricity that’s intended for home, industrial, agricultural, and commercial use is now prohibited.
So far, about 7,000 miners have been found in abandoned buildings near the capital. However, Bitcoin mining is only allowed for industrial purposes.