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Crypto Mining Operations in Iran extend to Electric Power Plants

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The Government of Iran has recently approved crypto mining operations by power plants in the country. According to reports, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, who serves as Deputy Head of the Power Generation , Distribution and Transmission Company of the country, or Tavanir, has confirmed the approval as he addressed the IRNA on Monday 27 July.

Iran is setting up a Bitcoin mining hub after the country’s subsidized electricity consumption and now miners are setting up a camp. Mashhadi further outlined the regulations that power plants must adhere to in order to operate cryptocurrency mining operations in the Islamic country.

Power plants must comply with set crypto mining operations tariffs

According to Mashhadi, power plants are expected to apply for crypto mining licenses to run their operation. Licenses are to be given to individual power plants by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.

Power plants are also required to fully comply with set tariffs on electricity consumption as far as crypto mining is concerned. Recent data show just how cheap miners pay for electricity consumption in Iran where one kilowatt of electricity is charged for as low as $0.01 to $ 0.05. The rates are expected to quadruple during the summer season, a situation that forced Tavanir to announce that the Iranian government had decided to reduce up to 47% on all tariffs on the electricity consumption by miners more so during the high seasons.

Allegedly 14 cryptocurrency miners have recently obtained crypto mining licenses to operate in the country. Each of them will have an electrical capacity of 300 megawatts. It is also worth noting that more than 1,000 more licenses have already been issued with permits.

Mashhadi also urged the general public to report any illegal crypto mining operations to the authorities, promising that the government would provide a reward for their actions.

Iranian president proposes a Muslim digital currency

Iran’s commander in chief, Hassan Rouhani has rallied Muslim faithfuls to unite; and come up with their very own Muslim cryptocurrency. He has also voiced his support for a national crypto mining project that he believes will further propel the country to thrive economically amid the current U.S sanctions that face them.

South African Crypto Investors Lose Millions as Former CEO Declared Bankrupt

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Willie Breedt, CEO of Vaultage Solutions, has been declared bankrupt while 2000 investors are expected to lose around R227 million, according to a News 24 report.

Vaultage solutions founded in 2018 welcomed the investment with the promise of weekly investment returns via cryptocurrency mining and trading. Breedt allegedly missed repaying investments, however, and never eventuated the development he had guaranteed to investors.

One of the biggest investors, Simon Dix of Hilton, who handed over R7.5 million to Breedt, successfully applied for a sequestration order against Breedt on Friday. The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria released a sequestration order on Friday. The sequestration order is issued by the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit Court, which decides that an individual is bankrupt. Once a sequestration order is received, the bankrupt ‘s assets are handed over to be managed by a bankruptcy trustee appointee.

Willie Breedt is also accused of going on the run after a few angry investors went on a manhunt, allegedly led by a colonel in the South African National Defense Force. The aim of the manhunt was to find Breedt and possibly recover some of the funds from him for ‘debt collectors.’ But Breedit had opened a case of intimidation with police in Jeffreys Bay before going on the run.

Investigators managed to find Breedt at a guesthouse in Pretoria and soon after the court issued Dix the sequestration order, the court sheriff accompanied by officers, raided the house where Breedt had been hiding, according to News 24’s report.

Numerous electronic devices have been seized on the raid, including a laptop and Ledger Nano hardware wallet, with police hoping to find details on where the bitcoin, as well as other currencies, could be hidden.

Anonymous Developer Reveals Actual Reason for Cooking Mama: Cookstar Retraction; Dismisses all Rumors About Cryptocurrency Mining

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Allegations related to the cryptocurrency industry have been doing the rounds since its inception and 2020 has been no different. This time, however, a major rumor related to the virtual currency system was quashed. 

Just recently, the internet was awash with news that the Nintendo Switch game Cooking Mama: Cookstar was pulled from game libraries because it mined cryptocurrencies on the back end. Sources confirmed that the real reason was a legal dispute between the developers and the publisher. 

Cooking Mama: Cookstar would have been the first installment in the franchise for the Switch. The previous editions were released for the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii with reports suggesting that the game may find it hard to come back on shelves anytime soon. While confirming the news of the legal dispute to Screenrant, a developer dismissed all rumors of cryptocurrency mining.

The developer, who remains anonymous reiterated multiple times that the 1p do not have the capabilities of integrating anything related to cryptocurrencies into the game. He added:

“The statement about crypto-currency was all buzz words. The head of planet entertainment knows very little about these things… he just put some fancy language to get potential investors who like that stuff. As for the crashes/ overheating. That would be because the game is made in unity. There is no way crypto-mining stuff could get through those tests. I doubt anyone at 1p would even be able to make such a thing.”

Cryptocurrency mining-related allegations had hit the cryptocurrency gaming community with many people losing faith in a market facing the coronavirus wrath. According to the developer, there was a lack of communication between the publisher and the development team. The source claimed that the developers were told the game was released in March with no added information. There were even allegations that the head of 1p, Tobi was known to be a person of few words.

The initial dispute started when the publisher, planet entertainment released the game against the request by Office Create to keep working on the game. There were ever plans of shelving the game, said the developer. No one really knows why the cryptocurrency mining rumor started but some claim that it was just an attempt to tarnish the industry.

Even the anonymous whistleblower was amused at the notion of the game being able to mine cryptocurrencies. The release of the game was so rushed that there were YouTube ads, websites and even tik tok ads that never released. The publisher is also planning to sue Office Create for having the game removed and the losses that followed.

Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse Comments on Massive Amount of Energy Consumed by Crypto Mining

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Cryptocurrency mining has always had a bad reputation among the masses due to the sheer amount of electricity and effort it consumes. Bitcoin mining took most of the hits after several reports were published on resource waste and its astronomical costs.

Recently, a new report released by the Telegraph reported that Bitcoin used more energy per transaction than the British household used in two years.  Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, Chief Executive Officer, has commented on the issue and how it impacts global warming.

The report stated that the amount of energy required to mine one Bitcoin rose to a record of 77.78 terawatts per hour. This count was so high that it equaled the entire energy consumption of Chile.

Statistics have shown that the carbon footprint of a single transaction is the same as 780,650 Visa transactions or 52,043 hours of YouTube streaming. The numbers were clocked by Alex de Vries, a blockchain specialist at PriceWaterhouseCoopers [PwC]. Mr de Vries added:

“People react with disbelief, but the figures are true. They [miners] are sort of participating in a massive lottery and every 10 minutes one gets lucky and gets to produce the next block. The shocking thing is the average lifetime of a bitcoin mining machine is one and a half years, because we have a new generation of machines which are better at doing these calculations.”

Every Bitcoin transaction uses around 657.39 kWh of electricity, a measure of the astronomical lengths that miners go to collect the world’s largest cryptocurrency. At least 98 percent of the devices during their lifetime will find it impossible to make a calculation that leads to a Bitcoin being mined.

The environmental effects have usually been shunned by cryptocurrency miners and that was something Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse agreed with too. He stated that the current climate crisis needs to be taken care of and that crypto-mining could be refined.

Garlinghouse may have been optimistic because Ripple’s native XRP cryptocurrency was a non-minable cryptocurrency. The backlash had an impact on the market with businesses like Mattereum attempting to set up a blockchain to record the provenance of the items. The items roster comprised of items such as fine wines, memorabilia or carbon offset certificates. Officials in the digital asset world have admitted that with the progress of technology, the process of mining must improve it.

 

 

Iran Issues 1,000 Licenses To Crypto Miners

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As per sources, the government of Iran has allowed licenses to over 1,000 cryptocurrency mining entities. These licenses are issued by the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade. This decision has given benefits to large firms established in the country. On the contrary, many small investors are away from the project due to higher electricity taxes which have proved to impede them.

 In an interview with IBENA news agency, an official with ICT Guild Organization of Iran said that the industry of cryptocurrency mining is new and has attracted many people in Iran towards itself. Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini stated that:

 “The Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade has issued more than 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining in the country.”

 Saeedi Naeini further added that Iran’s researches show that the crypto mining industry can generate $8.5 billion for the economy.

 Electricity Costs – A Leading Impediment

 As the country is grappling with economic problems and the U.S. has sanctioned, Saeed Naeini believes this decision will help improve Iran’s economy. However, he discussed that the electricity cost is a leading impediment for the miners in the country. Moreover, a high number of large mines have been established. To the news agency, he said:

“High electricity tariffs plus stringent regulations have made the sector less appealing for small investors.”

 He said that the industry’s operating conditions should be in a position so that everyone, from large to small firms, can enter in it. Further, he emphasized that modification in electricity costs and terms could help boost the cryptocurrency mining industry and can generate a significant amount of revenue.

 Cryptocurrency Mining Law of Iran

 The cryptocurrency mining industry of Iran is established last year and was officially recognized by the government of Iran. It is necessary that ahead of operations, crypto miners should have a license issued by the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade.

 Furthermore, the decision of recognizing the industry faced severe criticism by several authorities in the government. The authorities accused crypto miners of consuming more electricity. Last year, in June, it was reported by the state’s television that the authorities had seized about 1,000 mining machines. These mining machines were seized in two deserted factories on the charge of consuming subsidized electricity of the government.

 However, the official Saeedi Naeini said to IBENA that debate is under discussion for creating a favorable environment for the cryptocurrency miners.