Iran Offers Bounty for Illicit Cryptocurrency Mining Operations

Iranian authorities are offering a bounty to anyone who exposes unauthorized mining operations in the country, Iranian news outlet PressTV reports on Nov. 13.

A spokesman of the Energy Ministry announced the bounty program during an interview with local news outlet IRIB News, while illustrating the new electricity pricing mechanism for miners.

Mostafa Rajabi, the spokesman in question, said yesterday that people who expose cryptocurrency mining operations that are illicitly using subsidized electricity will receive up to 20% of the recovery of damages.

Rajabi told reporters that new regulations ban miners from operating during the hours of peak consumption of electricity. 

The spokesman also said that 9,650 rials ($0.29) per kilowatt-hour will be the average price of power for miners, as it is for the export of electricity. He explained that the price would be about half of that during colder months, and four times as much during warm months, when electricity consumption increases due to the hot weather.

Iranian crackdown on illicit crypto mining

Recent regulations for the cryptocurrency industry in the country have been followed by a crackdown on illicit mining operations. As Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 1, Iranian provincial police arrested an individual for smuggling cryptocurrency mining machines into the country.

Iran is increasingly regulating cryptocurrency mining, having announced the possibility of an annual register of cryptocurrency mining operations in September.

Iranian cryptocurrency mining regulations are not entirely negative for local operations. In September, Iran's National Tax Administration announced that domestic mining firms are eligible for a tax exemption if they agree to repatriate their overseas earnings