Iran’s Government Offers Bounty to Find Illegal Cryptocurrency Mining Operations
A local news outlet published on 13 November that the Iranian government will offer bounty programs to those who find illegal and unauthorized cryptocurrency mining operation in the country.
Energy Ministry spokesperson announced the bounty program during an interview with the local news outlet IRIB News. Mostafa Rajabi, the Energy ministry spokesperson told IRIB news that anyone that will expose and reveal the unauthorized and illegal cryptocurrency mining operation will receive upto 20% of the recovery of damages.
Rajabi explains the new electricity pricing mechanism for cryptocurrency mining operations. Rajabi also added that miner will not allow to use the mining equipments during the hours of peak consumption of electricity.
Rajabi explains that the average price of electricity for miner is 9,650 rials ($0.29) per kilowatt-hour. He also explains that the price of electricity will decrease to half during the colder months and will increase upto 4 times during warm months, due to the increase in electricity consumption in warm weather.
The Iranian government recently shut down all mining operation in the country due to massive usage of electricity. The government said that the will soon apply new electricity prices that are different for mining operations and home usage.
There are also rumours that the Iranian government will launch its own cryptocurrency backed by gold. The rumours are not confirmed by any official authorities. Iran has already legalised mining activities in the country.
