As Power Shortage Looms, Chinese Expand Bitcoin Mining Operations in Iran
Reports indicate that while numerous obstacles exist for Iranians operating in the cryptocurrency mining industry, Chinese entities are establishing and expanding cryptocurrency mining farms in Rafsanjan, engaging in an activity that requires high electricity consumption.
TradingNews website reported that the Iran-China Investment Development Group has been operating in Rafsanjan Special Economic Zone for over a year, but their bitcoin mining farm has recently come into the spotlight.
The website quoted Iran’s Blockchain Association as saying that due to existing barriers for Iranian citizens, cryptocurrency mining by Iranians in Iran’s free zones and special commercial areas is expanding, and “this deprives the country of appropriate revenue sources due to the tax exemptions granted in these areas.”
Bitcoin is the most popular digital currency, and mining it is performed by special computers that consume very large amounts of electricity. Network members process Bitcoin transactions and, by solving mathematical problems, extract new bitcoins.
News of Chinese activities in this field in Iran is emerging at a time when the Iranian government faces problems providing electricity to citizens and has resorted to burning mazut fuel and severely polluting city air to generate sufficient power.
Isa Kalantari, head of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, who previously said people must choose between power cuts and mazut consumption, said in his latest comments on air pollution: “It would be better if we had two hours of power outages daily, but we shouldn’t use mazut fuel because it causes air pollution.”
MohammadReza Sharafi, a member of Iran’s Blockchain Association, posed the question to TradingNews: “If a foreign investor can operate in the country, why do various obstacles exist that prevent our own people from entering the cryptocurrency mining sector?”
He also pointed to the forced establishment of mining farms in Iran’s industrial parks, saying this occurs “while these areas lack adequate infrastructure for energy transmission, and their officials show little interest in the formation of this industry.”
TradingNews wrote that it has also followed up on the matter with the Iran-China Investment Development Group, “and if they provide a response, it will be published.”
Last year, Saeed Zarandi, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Industry, said that extracting digital currencies “is considered a tool for circumventing sanctions.”
The U.S. government had previously announced that it would pursue the transfer of currency, even within Iran, including digital currencies.
Source: Radio Farda
