![\"Iran](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/iran-seizes-45000-bitcoin-miners-for-illegally-using-subsidized-government-electricity-report-768x432.jpg\")
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Police in Iran have reportedly seized 45,000 bitcoin mining rigs for illegally using subsidized electricity from the state-owned power utility Tavanir, the local Tasmin News Agency reported this week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According<\/a> to Mohammad Hassan Motavalizadeh, head of Tavanir, the efficient application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin miners had been consuming 95 megawatts (MW) per hour of electricity at cheaper prices.<\/p>\n Authorized miners are charged around 4,800 rials ($0.11) per kilowatt-hour in autumn, winter and spring, says the Iranian Energy Ministry. Subsidized rates may be half as much.<\/p>\n Since 2019, when crypto mining became legal in Iran, the Islamic Republic has shut down <\/a>1,620 unauthorized mining farms, local media reported earlier this month. The farms consumed 250MW of electricity, it said.<\/p>\n Now, the Middle East country is currently facing severe power shortages due to rising winter demand, with rolling blackouts across major cities. The government decided to blame bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) mining for the dire situation.<\/p>\n As a result, Iran\u2019s Energy Ministry has temporarily cut the supply of 600MW of power to all authorized BTC<\/a> miners in the country, redirecting the energy to household use.<\/p>\n <\/ins> <\/ins> <\/p>\n Per the Tasmin News Agency report, authorities also put a halt to production at a vast mining operation in the southwest of Iran. The facility is owned by a Chinese-Iranian investment company and is reportedly using \u201ctens of thousands\u201d of ASIC miners to extract bitcoin.<\/p>\n Some cryptocurrency researchers have argued that although miners are being targeted, they were not responsible for the current blackouts. Ziya Sadr told<\/a> the Washington Post that bitcoin mining accounts for a very small share of the national electricity consumption total in Iran, where demand peaks at 40,000MW in winter.<\/p>\n