The secret connection between Iran's nuclear facilities and underground Mining Farms.

As the explosion of the US airstrike on Iran's nuclear facilities sounded, the global Bitcoin network suddenly experienced a "heartbeat stop."

Written by: Nicky, Foresight News

On June 21, in the early hours, the United States launched the "Midnight Hammer" airstrikes against Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, shaking not only the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. At the same time, the average hash rate of the global Bitcoin network suddenly plummeted from about 1000 EH/s (hundreds of quintillion hashes per second) to below 650 EH/s. This seemingly unrelated digital fluctuation instantly sparked speculation: "Could Iran's Bitcoin mines be hidden in the foundations of these nuclear facilities?"

Although Alex Thorn, the head of blockchain analysis firm Galaxy Research, quickly clarified that "the specific reasons for the sharp decline in computing power still require more data validation and cannot be directly linked to the airstrike," this coincidence has nonetheless torn open the mysterious veil of Iran's underground Bitcoin mining industry. This long-sanctioned country is pushing the game of energy and digital finance to a climax in an extreme way.

The 'Silent Mine' Under Nuclear Facilities: Iran's Bitcoin Survival Rules

To understand the origin of this hash rate fluctuation, one must first step into Iran's "underground Bitcoin empire."

Under the heavy pressure of international sanctions, the Iranian economy has long been trapped in a dual dilemma of "dollar shortage" and uncontrollable inflation. The purchasing power of ordinary people's monthly wages may evaporate within a week, and small business owners struggle to raise funds even for importing raw materials. At this time, the "decentralized" nature of Bitcoin has become a lifeline — by mining Bitcoin, converting it into the stablecoin USDT, and ultimately flowing into underground money houses or overseas exchanges, one can bypass the heavy blockades of banks and obtain urgently needed foreign currency or goods.

But Bitcoin mining in Iran has had an "underground" hue from the very beginning. According to estimates by ViraMiner CEO Masih Alavi, the total computing power of Iran's legal industrial mining sites is only about 5 megawatts (MW), while the scale of illegal "household" mining reaches up to 2000 megawatts (2 GW) — equivalent to the daily electricity consumption of 2 million households, which is 400 times that of its legal scale.

Where are these illegal mining sites hidden? The answer may be beyond imagination: residents' attics are filled with mining machines, the basements of jewelry stores hide entire rows of ASIC miners, and even the ventilation ducts of currency exchange points have been converted into cooling channels. Even more covert is the "hot access" technology — miners directly draw electricity from gas pipelines, using small generators to mine while completely bypassing grid regulation; even more extreme are those who use satellite networks (like Musk's Starlink) to hide IP addresses, making government tracking systems effectively "blind."

"Do you think you can mine in a mosque? Impossible." An industry insider familiar with Iranian mining said that power loads in hospitals, schools, and religious sites are strictly limited, and overloads will directly trip the circuit. Miners only dare to try their luck in private residences or abandoned factories, but even so, the government's crackdown has never stopped. They have confiscated over 800,000 illegal mining machines.

The "Rashomon" of the Sudden Drop in Computing Power: Is it Hidden Mining in Nuclear Facilities or a Chain Reaction in the Power Grid?

Back to the hash rate fluctuations on June 21. At the moment the missile struck the Iranian nuclear facility, the "heart" of the Bitcoin network seemed to skip a beat as well. Is there a direct correlation behind this?

One possibility is "physical destruction." If there are indeed mines hidden beneath nuclear facilities, an airstrike causing power outages or equipment damage would naturally lower the overall network hash rate. However, considering that Iran's illegal mines are mostly decentralized in a "guerrilla" layout, concentrated in residential areas or small warehouses, the overlap with high-value targets such as nuclear facilities is not significant.

Another more likely explanation is the "grid chain reaction." Iran's power system is already fragile — during the summer peak electricity usage, the national power deficit can reach 30%, and the government has to frequently implement power cuts. Illegal mining operations consume nearly 1/20 of the total electricity (2 GW/42 GW), which means that if a mining site in a certain area loses power (for example, due to local grid shocks caused by airstrikes), it will be like "pulling out blocks," leading to a greater imbalance in electricity distribution, which in turn triggers more mining machines to shut down.

Imagine that the Iranian power grid is a tightly stretched rubber band. Illegal mining sites consume 20% of the electricity, and when airstrikes damage some lines, the grid dispatch system will prioritize cutting off power to high-energy-consuming mining sites in order to protect livelihoods (such as hospitals and water supply). At this time, the mining machines hidden in residential buildings may automatically shut down due to unstable voltage, leading to a sudden drop in the overall network hash rate. However, this explanation still requires more data to support it.

Revolutionary Guard's "Crypto Empire": Who is Enabling This Energy Gamble?

The chaos of Bitcoin mining in Iran hides a deeper power struggle behind it.

In 2019, the Iranian government officially recognized Bitcoin mining as a legitimate industry, initially aiming to use excess oil and natural gas for "currency generation." However, with the involvement of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), this "economic innovation" gradually took a different turn — the IRGC and its affiliated entities monopolized most of Iran's mining sites by controlling electricity, land, and foreign exchange channels. It is estimated that IRGC-affiliated mines account for over 50% of Iran's total mining power and enjoy the privilege of "free electricity."

"The Revolutionary Guard's mining sites don't care about electricity prices." A former Iranian energy official revealed, "They directly generate power from associated gas pulled from oil fields, or they simply 'borrow' electricity from the grid that is supposed to supply the cities. The government has tried to conduct inspections, but every time there is a raid, armed personnel are always guarding the entrance to the mining sites."

This operation of a "country within a country" has further exacerbated Iran's electricity crisis. In the summer of 2024, Iran faced the most severe heat wave in 50 years, with 27 provinces entering a "power rationing emergency state," hospitals forced to transfer patients, and factories shutting down due to lack of electricity. Meanwhile, while the populace is suffering from power shortages, some military base mines continue to operate 24 hours a day — consuming 300,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity for every Bitcoin mined, equivalent to the daily electricity consumption of 35,000 households.

"We sit in the dark just to keep the Bitcoin mining machines running," wrote a citizen of Tehran on social media. This sentence has become the sharpest accusation from the Iranian people against the "cryptocurrency monopoly group."

Warning Behind Hashrate Fluctuations: When Mining Becomes a National Hazard

The sudden drop in hash rate on June 21 was essentially a "butterfly effect" — a U.S. airstrike triggered the vulnerabilities in Iran's power system, and the disorderly expansion of underground mining magnified these vulnerabilities. It exposed not only Iran's energy crisis but also the deep-seated risks intertwining the global cryptocurrency industry with geopolitical factors.

For Iran, Bitcoin mining was once a "financial weapon" to break through sanctions, but it has now become an "energy poison." The government is trying to regulate the industry by issuing licenses, but the excessively high electricity prices (the legal mining electricity price is 5 - 10 times that of residential use) and the bureaucratic approval process are forcing more people to turn to illegal mining. This predicament of "the more regulation, the more chaos" reflects the distorted ecology of Iran's economy under sanctions.

For the global cryptocurrency market, Iran's case serves as a mirror. When countries discuss "the energy consumption of cryptocurrencies," they often focus on the environmental controversies surrounding Bitcoin, yet they easily overlook that, in the cracks of sanctions and poverty, cryptocurrencies may become "tools for plundering public resources." Iran's 2 GW illegal mining operations not only consume electricity that could be used for people's livelihoods but also turn the national power grid into a "cash machine for the few."

Conclusion

The fluctuations in computing power caused by airstrikes will eventually calm down, but Iran's Bitcoin dilemma is far from over. Beneath the surface of this theocratic state, a revolution in computing power is taking place in the dark. Bitcoin mining has become a lifeline for ordinary people to break through financial blockades, while also turning into a tool for privileged groups to seize wealth. When the shockwave from the attack on nuclear facilities reaches the Bitcoin network, what we see is not only the vulnerability of Iran's energy system but also a path of crypto survival that a nation carves out between sanctions and survival.

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