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Iran to Net $1 Billion in Annual Bitcoin Mining Revenue: Elliptic

Fri, 05/21/2021 - 14:02
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Alex Dovbnya
Bitcoin mining is growing in Iran despite the country's love-hate relationship with the industry
Iran to Net $1 Billion in Annual Bitcoin Mining Revenue: Elliptic
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According to estimates by blockchain analytics company Elliptic, Iran could net up to $1 billion in annual Bitcoin mining revenue.

Sanctions
Image by elliptic.co

The country's share of the global hash rate has now grown to nearly five percent.

Cryptocurrency mining farms consume roughly 600 megawatts of electricity in Iran. card

A complicated stance

Iran is walking a fine line between reining in mining farms and using Bitcoin profits as a means of circumventing U.S. sanctions.

The Central Bank of Iran allows people to pay for imports with mined coins.

At the same time, the country is struggling with power outages caused by rampant unauthorized mining, which caused a recent crackdown.

Local miners can go as far as establishing operations in mosques to take advantage of free electricity. Iran is now enlisting spies to track down such unscrupulous actors.

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About the author

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry — from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. He’s particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.