Mohammed Jahromi who is Iran’s ICT head has called for a law that monitors mining of cryptocurrency in the country. He made this statement in response to the current use of energy for cryptocurrency mining in Iran.
According to Indian based news agency, Mehr, Jahromi wants the Bitcoin mining operators checked and certified before using the country’s electricity.
Lately, the mining business has continued to soar in Iran. This new call may not be unrelated to China’s anti-crypto stance which is has led to restrictions in the country.
Bitcoin mining generally demands high power consumption. This is why the Chinese cheap hydropower has favored miners in previous years before government crackdown in 2007. Many experts have attributed BTC’s slump last year to China’s anti-mining crusade.
Iran has become the new mining hub as there is yet to be a law limiting activities in Bitcoin mining. Mining cryptocurrencies cost half what it does in Europe in Iran. this has made the country the new hub for many companies involved in cryptocurrency extraction.
For Iran’s ICT Minister, Jahromi, mining activities consume unconscionable amount of energy necessitating regulations of sorts.
“Estimates by Iran’s Energy Ministry shows that 700 Megawatts of the country’s power is used for mining. This violates ordinary people’s rights” Jahromi lamented.
Iran’s Legislators are currently advocating for an active crypto law. It is expected that Iran legislators will take into account the relationship between power consumption and Mining activities.
Ali Karimi, a legislators said:
“Unfortunately, there is no specific law to monitor activities around cryptocurrencies in the country and it is essential that the government prepares a specific bill for determining the fate of cryptocurrencies’ mining, such as Bitcoin and exchanging currencies using the digital money and submit the bill to the Parliament so that the power rate of those who are mining across the country would be determined”
It is likely that with the new searchlight on mining activities in the country, there’ll be more pressure on the industry since the country was being viewd as another crypto haven.
