Amid blackouts and police raids, Iran weighs benefits of Bitcoin

As blackouts and police raids roil the upstart Iranian mining industry, a match between a permissionless currency and a country throttled by inflation that once seemed like a perfect fit is now being called into question.

As Cointelegraph has previously reported, Iran joins Pakistan as a cryptocurrency superpower in the Middle East, owing in part due to cheap, heavily subsidized electricity prices, as well as a boost in activity following an approval of Bitcoin mining as an “industrial activity” for power plants in 2020. It’s been estimated that there are well over 1000 legal entities currently engaged in mining activities.