1,000 Bitcoin miners have been seized in Iran

Mining • June 28, 2019, 7:38AM EDT
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Iranian authorities have seized around 1,000 bitcoin mining machines from two former factories, following an increase in electricity consumption, BBC reports.

"Two of these bitcoin farms have been identified, with a consumption of one megawatt," Arash Navab, an electricity official, was quoted as saying in the report.

Demand for power reportedly rose by 7% in June and cryptocurrency mining was thought to be the main reason.

Earlier this week, there were reports that cryptocurrency miners in Iran will be detected and face power cuts. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, an official from the country's state-run power generation and transmission company Tavanir, said that it is illegal to use the national grid for cryptocurrency mining.

Bitcoin is increasingly being seen as a means to store wealth after U.S. dollar and gold by Iranian, per the BBC report. 

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Yogita Khatri profile picture Yogita Khatri

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.

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