Quote Originally Posted by The Verge
Iran is temporarily banning cryptocurrency mining after some of the country’s major cities experienced repeated blackouts. President Hassan Rouhani said that the ban would last until September 22nd.

The country has experienced summer blackouts in years past, and while the current round of outages is mostly being blamed on a drought that’s affecting the country’s ability to generate hydroelectric power, it seems that the Iranian government is eager to cut down on any aggravating factors. Power-hungry cryptocurrency mining operations, for instance.

According to the BBC, Iran operates a program where Bitcoin miners must register with with the government, pay extra for electricity, and sell their coins to the central bank. President Rouhani stated that the legal mining operations in the country consume around 300MW a day; Iran’s state-owned grid operator, Tavanir, reportedly claimed a more conservative daily usage of 209MW. Either number is small compared to the 2,000MW that Al Jazeera reports is used by illegal miners, which reportedly make up 85 percent of the country’s operations. The deputy minister of electricity and energy even told one news organization that miners were using the free electricity afforded to mosques to run mining operations.
Iran bans cryptocurrency mining for four months to stave off blackouts - The Verge