Because of the Israeli war … this is how bitcoin mining was affected by the interruption of the Internet in Iran technology

After years of rationalizing electricity in Iran to address its growing energy deficit, the full interruption of the Internet was revealed during the 12 -day June war, which lasted and the period that followed it was a remarkable decline in the global mining rate of the network BitcoinAnd media reports spoke about rates ranging between 5 and 12% worldwide.

With the interruption of the Internet, the Persian press published reports about the decline in the electricity interruption periods from the home sector due to the decrease in consumption, as Mohamed Dad, assistant of the National Company for the Production and Distribution of Electricity, announced that cutting the Internet led to a decrease in consumption about 2,400 megawatts after stopping the activity of 900 thousand unlicensed mining devices.

In statements conveyed by the Persian press, the Iranian official continued that this percentage is parallel to 15% of the electric deficit in the country, noting that some of the two metal use the Starlink service illegally, which experts in Tehran interpreted as a recognition that the activity of this segment is not affected by the internet outlook alongside the official metal.

For his part, Iranian Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi said that bitcoin mining declined by 5% at the global level, which confirms that 5% of the electricity produced in Iran is consumed in the mining sector and that most of the two minerals did not obtain legal licenses.

Reasons for turnout

Activists in the field of mining in Iran attribute the reasons for the demand for mining digital currencies, foremost of which is the cryptocurrency currency, to cumulative factors, perhaps the most prominent of which is economic feasibility and circumventing US sanctions in their financial exchanges and protecting the value of their savings in digital currencies and preventing them from evaporation due to the fascinating inflation.

For his part, Farhad (a pseudonym), a workshop for the production of auto parts in one of the industrial towns near the capital, Tehran, says that he found in Bitcoin mining an opportunity to fill the expenses of the workshop that has become useless due to the high cost of raw materials and the decline in the purchasing power of the citizen and the shrinkage of the market, adding that in light of the Iranian currency loss a large part of its value annually, the mining of encrypted currencies generates profits in the hard currency Without the need for a little activity.

Speaking to Al -Jazeera Net, Farhad considers government support for electrical tariffs in Iran, especially in the agricultural and industry sectors, one of the most prominent incentives for mining, explaining that the very cheap price of electricity makes the cost of producing cryptocurrencies very cheap compared to other countries, noting that the electrical tariff is almost free in some official and religious institutions as well as remote areas.

He explained that the majority of the two minerals in Iran depend on the World Wide Web to connect devices to international networks, which makes cutting the Internet a major obstacle to their activity, stressing that it was already affected by the comprehensive cutting of the Internet at times and restricting them at other times, and that the absence of the legal frameworks of this sector made it vulnerable to collapse with any external development or internal protests.

Farhad added that the licenses needed for mining are usually conditional in his country and are only granted to the major farms related to official institutions and according to strict conditions, which makes the inauguration of small farms inside industrial and agricultural facilities a matter of economic feasibility, but it is fraught with risk due to the official campaigns to confiscate the mining devices and destroy them and fined their owners under the pretext of damaging the energy sector.

Dress in hard currency

For his part, the economic researcher, Moeen Sadiqan, believes that the reports announced about the decrease in the “hashit” rate indicating the measurement of mining power in the digital currency network “close to the reality if not accurate”, stressing that the decline in mining by 5% due to cutting the Internet and not stopping the activity of licensed farms does not mean that Iran acquires a very large percentage of the mining sector globally, but it shows that the bitcoin mining network is not as large as we thought.

Speaking to Al -Jazeera Net, Sadiqan explains that the mining process needs electrical energy to operate the mining device on the one hand and its connection to the World Wide Web on the other hand to ensure the validity of the solution of puzzles or the complex sports operations required, adding that thanks to the cheap price of electricity and the Internet in Iran, the two metals are profitables of about $ 165 per month per mining device that does not exceed the price of the modern model from 1100 of it Almost dollars.

The same spokesman continued, that about 90% of bitcoin mining farms in Iran are not licensed, because obtaining official licenses requires the metal to purchase electricity with export pricing, which is more expensive than consumption tariffs in the industry and agriculture sectors, explaining that the electricity tariff for the home sector in Iran makes the mining process in homes a matter of economically improper.

Sadiqan pointed out that the Iranian energy sector has already been affected by unlicensed mining during the past years, noting that the impact of this phenomenon does not exceed 15% of the electric power deficit in the country, and urged the relevant authorities in his country to liberalize energy prices to reduce the increasing unlicensed mining farms.

In light of the Iranian government allowing the mining of cryptocurrencies with the imposition of higher electrical fees, which led to a large percentage of the two metal to officially reveal their activity, the activity of the last segment remains between the anvil of internet interruption – due to conflicts or protests – and the hammer of inspection campaigns to confiscate mining devices and fined their owners due to the use of electricity supported for unlicensed purposes.

Despite the security and economic risks associated with unlicensed mining, the metal goes to the use of satellite Internet to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the Iranian authorities on the web from time to time, while observers warn of the spread of this phenomenon that complicates the monitoring of illegal activities in this sector.