Bitcoin [BTC] mining has slowly spread to a number of nations in recent years as they recognized the potential of the industry. However, Iran gained attention for seizing a large number of illicit mining equipment. This was mostly due to the energy consumption of these devices. However, things could be changing in the country as thousands of mining equipment are poised to be returned.
Recent reports reveal that a court in Iran ordered the release of the seized devices. Elaborating on the reason behind this sudden change, Abdolmajid Eshtehadi, the head of Iran’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance said,
“Currently some 150,000 crypto mining equipment is held by the OCSSOP, a large part of which will be released following judicial rulings. Machines have already been returned.”
However, concerns regarding its energy consumption continued to haunt the country. Eshtehadi highlighted the importance of the same and called for regulations governing its energy usage. He stated,
“Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Company (Tavanir) should propose new plans in order to make use of [the remaining] hardware, without causing damage to the national grid.”
It should be noted that a whopping 250,000 pieces of mining equipment have been seized since 2020. In addition, 7,200 unauthorized mining rigs were taken down. The national grid suffered damages of $1.3 million, following illicit miners consuming an astounding $16.5 million in subsidized power.
Will this bring respite to Iran amidst ongoing political unrest?
With immense civil unrest in Iran, several have been opting for Bitcoin and other digital assets The government itself went on to approve the use of imports to circumvent the US sanctions.
Additionally, Bitcoin’s hash rate could even witness a spike in the coming days. Iran had to stop providing energy to authorized mining companies back in June 2022. This was because the nation’s electricity usage peaked at 62,500 megawatts [MW]. Iran’s share of the global Bitcoin hash rate was 0.12% during the time. However, it has since risen to 0.2%.
