After the launch of whistleblowers program, Iranian authorities disclosed more than a thousand of cryptocurrency mining farms  that operated without special license.

Whistleblowers helped Iranian energy company Tavanir shut down 1,100 mining farms that were operating without proper licenses. Tavanir claims that some of the miners were using subsidized electricity. However, the company's report explains that no significant changes in the level of electricity consumption were observed. According to local authorities, illegal miners were detected not due to surges in electricity consumption, but through whistleblowers program. Informants were rewarded for information about unlawful mining farms. Tavanir “cannot detect all illegal farms solely by studying their consumption patterns,” local authorities said.

According to the Financial Tribune, individuals who provided information leading to the discovery of unauthorized miners received 100 million riyals ($480) each for their cooperation.

Iran recently announced that it would allow industrial power plants to operate as bitcoin miners, but on the condition that they do not use subsidized fuel.

The national mining law states that miners must obtain permits to operate, disclose the names of owners, managers and beneficiaries of enterprises, and provide detailed information to the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade. This information includes the size of their mining farms and the type of equipment they use. This, among other things, is required to prevent the smuggling of mining machines to Iran.

Miners working without a license run the risk of a $2,000 to $5,000 fine for each mining machine and an additional $20,000 fine for using electricity from subsidized fuels.

Back in May, Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade granted iMiner, a cryptocurrency mining company, a license to operate in the country. The company operates about 6,000 mining rigs.

The Iranian government authorized the mining of cryptocurrency as an industrial activity in July 2019 and has since issued over 1,000 licenses to cryptocurrency mining companies.