Iranian state electric company Tavanir has warned judicial officials about Chinese cryptocurrency miners coming to Iran, an influx that could worsen the country’s power outage problems, according to local media reports.
Fast facts
- Tavanir CEO Mohammad Hussein Motevallizadeh said in a letter published by local news website Eghtesadnews that the Chinese government’s crackdown on crypto mining could push miners to other countries, as reported earlier this week by local English-language news outlet Financial Tribune.
- He said that lower electricity costs make Iran attractive to Chinese miners and that “they could start smuggling mining equipment into the country,” according to the report.
- Iran International, a U.K.-based outlet for Iranin news, reported on Wednesday that an Iranian customs official said that computers for crypto mining were being imported into the country legally, through official channels.
- Iran has imposed a temporary ban on crypto mining due to power shortages. In May, President Hassan Rouhani announced a suspension of crypto mining that would continue until Sept. 22.
- Earlier this month, Iranians took to the streets in several cities, including Tehran, the capital, to protest against the ongoing blackouts over the past few months, according to an Iran News Wire report.
- Last month, Iranian police confiscated 7,000 cryptocurrency mining machines from an abandoned factory in western Tehran, according to a report by state-owned news agency IRNA.