Iran Bans Bitcoin Miners from Using Power during Peak Hours

That was announced by the Iranian minister of economy and a senior lawmaker while commenting on the mechanism of producing digital currency in Iran.

“Following requests by people, economic players and members of parliament for transparency on the production of digital currency and Bitcoins, … the Parliament’s Economic Commission decided to hold a meeting to made the necessary decisions on the issue,” said Elias Hazrati, the chairman of the commission.

He said there is no law on digital currency in the country.

“The [Parliament’s] Economic Commission felt that adopting the necessary decisions on digital currency might be delayed; so, today it invited the minister of finance and economic affairs, minister of industry, mines and trade, and minister of energy, as well as officials of the Central Bank, Passive Defense Organization, and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to attend a meeting to elaborate on the advantages and drawbacks of using digital currency and its legal processes,” the MP said.

He underlined the government has recognized digital currency as an industry.

“The government has devised a plan which would decrease the disadvantages of digital currency and increase its benefits. It also gives the guarantee that people will easily be able to receive the necessary permits in this domain from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade,” the parliamentarian noted.

He said decisions have been made to offer electricity for the production of digital currency at a reasonable price.

“It has also been decided that the government work out a mechanism for peak hours of electricity consumption, so that people will not face problems. So, relevant institutions will provide producers of digital currency with three-phased timers which switch off during peak hours of power consumption,” he said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Minister of Economy and Financial Affairs Farhad Dejpasand said the government recognizes digital currency. However, he said it is forbidden to use electricity to produce digital currency during peak hours.

He added the price of electricity used to produce digital currency will be determined based on the average price of electricity which is exported.