It’s another good news for advocates of cryptocurrencies as Iranian authorities have given go-ahead to power plants in Iran to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, deputy head of the country’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) has confirmed to IRNA.
Electricity tariff as an impetus for bitcoin mining
Cryptocurrency mining companies are at an advantage because of favourable Iran’s subsidized electricity rates.
Mining farms in Iran are paying as little as $0.01 to $0.05 for one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity, a data seen by InfomediaNG shows.
Recall that the rates increase four-fold during the peak summer, prompting Tavanir to announce that it will cut up to 47% of the electricity tariffs for miners during the peak consumption periods.
How to apply for bitcoin mining licence in Iran
Mostafa hinted that prospective miners have to apply for the necessary licenses from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, and comply with the tariffs set for crypto mining.
In addition, the power plants must submit their requests, and follow the approved tariff set for cryptocurrency mining centres.
He pointed out that at least 14 cryptocurrency mining farms were certified to mine recently, each with a capacity of 300 megawatts.
Also, over 1,000 bitcoin mining licenses had previously been issued, including for Iminer, a major bitcoin mining operation based in Turkey.
Whistleblower of illegal mining to get reward
The deputy head of Tavanir pointed out that the country is aware that some individuals might go the illicit way, however, encouraged whistleblower to report such cases.
Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi said that anyone reporting illegal cryptocurrency mining farms will be rewarded.
He was quoted as saying, “The supply of electricity is of great importance to the public” and “we will not allow those who misuse the tariffs provided for the agricultural and industrial sectors to produce bitcoins”.
Muslim cryptocurrency
Worried by the dominance of US dollar in internal trade, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in December 2019 called for the creation of what he described as Muslim cryptocurrency for the country to have a say in international trade and amid US sanctions.
“The Muslim world should be designing measures to save themselves from the domination of the United States dollar and the American financial regime,” USNews quoted him as saying at the Kuala Lumpur Summit in Malaysia.