Iranian provincial police are continuing their crackdown on large and small cryptocurrency miners, with news that they have seized more than 7,000 rigs at a farm operating in the capital Tehran.
Police seized cryptocurrency diggers operating in an abandoned factory, according to a report by state media outlet, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), on Tuesday. Experts on the national electricity grid estimated that miners working at full capacity account for about 4% of Iran's average daily energy consumption.
Tehran police chief Hossein Rahimi said authorities have found another 3,000 cryptocurrency diggers in the Iranian capital over the past 48 hours, with police raiding 50 locations. He added that the discovery of the farm equipped with 7,000 rigs was the largest and most significant drain on energy consumption in the country so far.
The operation came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced in May that Bitcoin ( BTC ) and cryptocurrency mining in the country would be banned until September. The measures are aimed at ensuring Iranians have access to electricity during the summer.
While the seizure of more than 7,000 miners may attract more attention from authorities, police are also cracking down on the little guys - miners operating illegally by using electricity in their households could potentially face hefty fines. On Tuesday, an IRNA report said police found four miners at a Pakdasht home southeast of the capital. Authorities measured the household's energy consumption from outside before checking it for mining rigs.
