Iran seizes 7,000 illegal Bitcoin mining machines, crackdowns are getting tougher

The Iranian authorities have confiscated around 7,000 Bitcoin mining machines, continuing the country’s crackdown on illegal Bitcoin mining activities.

Bitcoin mining machines used to conduct illegal cryptocurrency mining operations have been found in an abandoned factory in the capital of Iran. This is the largest case the Iranian authorities have ever carried out. In January the Iranian government “deleted” more than 1,500 unlicensed mining operations. In the same month, 45,000 Bitcoin mining rigs were also confiscated.

Iran’s cheap electricity has seen a wave of bitcoin mining land in the country. A study by Elliptic, a blockchain and cryptocurrency analytics firm, shows that Iran is responsible for more than 4% of bitcoin mining.

However, the government appears to have taken the Bitcoin mining sector heavily in hand with various measures against illegal BTC miners. The alleged Bitcoin mining activities have affected the country’s power supply and the Iranian government will completely ban the blockchain association from operating.

In May, the Iranian government issued a temporary ban on Bitcoin mining until September 2021. The country had previously announced that it would punish miners who use household electricity for electricity.

While Iran is curbing and enforcing illegal Bitcoin mining, China is taking extensive nationwide crackdown on the sector. The Chinese Bitcoin Mining Company was forced to move all of its operations overseas before the hash rate plummeted by nearly 50%.

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