While some bitcoin miners are estimated to have shut down hundreds of thousands of machines - if not more - others are still out there looking for alternative ways to keep operating.
It's Iran, with its extremely low-cost electricity that's luring overseas miners.
Miners make their money when the cost of producing coins - currently 12.5 bitcoins per transaction block, plus any fees they've accrued - is lower than the operation of the mine itself, including electricity.
There's even evidence to suggest miners in countries commonly seen as bitcoin mining powerhouses - China in particular - are looking at Iran for potential opportunities.
A startup based in Chengdu, China, told CoinDesk under the condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal that it has already deployed 2,000 miners in Iran.
"Iran has vast natural gas resources and thus the electricity cost can be as low as 0.04 yuan [$0.006] per kilowatt-hour. But Iran doesn't really have any firm making miners. Now that secondhand miners are being sold cheaply in China, it's a rather reasonable business decision. With electricity that cheap, you can generate profits in one to two months," the company said in a statement.
Javad Sedighi, a self-employed cryptocurrency miner in Iran, echoed that point, telling CoinDesk that local miners largely rely on the import of machines to the country.
"It's suitable for hosting secondhand miners that are on the edge of shutting down in China and can make profits in one to two months," he was recorded as saying, and asked interested miners to visit Iran to do their own due diligence.
In conversation with CoinDesk, Dehqan sought to temper the idea that miners are rushing into Iran en-masse since the methods by which foreign investors can set up mining facilities are anything but simple.
"Most of the mining giants in China, or miner makers, do not dare to host their machines in Iran. This is the general situation. As attractive as the electricity over there might be, only miners at an individual or much smaller scale are shifting to Iran. Most people are still hesitant." Guo said.
Cheap Power Is Luring Battered Bitcoin Miners to Iran
Publié le Dec 12, 2018
by Coindesk | Publié le Coinage
Coinage
Mentionné dans cet article
Nouvelles récentes
Voir tout
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.