Amid the dropping crypto prices, miners have been quite busy looking for ways to cut costs. Some have even given up while others look for other locations where they can increase the profit margins. One place that miners in China have found might raise a few eyebrows.

Chinese Miners in Iran

Iran, a nation in the Middle East is fast becoming a new home for crypto miners from China trying to make some cash. Lured in by the low electricity cost in the nation, miners are moving to the largest power exporter in the middle in droves.

A recent report indicated that in the five years starting March 2013 to Mach 2018, Iran exported about 43 billion kWh of power to neighbors. It earned revenue of $4.1 billion from these exports.

However, Iranian producers of electricity often do not have stable buyers for the power as it happens with the National Grid. Most small plants face a survival crisis at times. As a result, they are forced to sell power at an extremely low price.

Issues Chinese are Facing in Iran

Despite the low power prices, Chinese miners are facing issues when it comes to getting the mining rigs to Iran. The main issue is that customs in Iran look at the mining rigs suspiciously and miners are at times turned away.

This has caused many miners to opt to transport their equipment by sea. It takes about 20 days from Chinese ports to Iran. First, the equipment gets to Dubai. The second part is getting the equipment from Dubai to mining hubs in Iran.

However, that is not the end of their woes. Right now, Iran has banned the importation of mining rigs into the nation. As a result, Iranian customs officials are currently holding about 40,000 mining rigs, which they have prevented from entering the nation.

Besides that, the law in Iran does not support mining. Thus, miners do not enjoy any legal protection. In short, the Iranian authorities may decide to switch off any mining hubs in an instance.

Whatever happens, it shows the steps miners are willing to take to make a profit in the bear market. As long as there is cheap power somewhere, miners will try to get there. It has also been reported that some of the miners might turn back to China due to challenges they are facing in Iran.

The Fall of BTC Prices

The continued fall of BTC is no longer a major news item. Since the start of 2018, BTC has seen massive drops that have continued into 2019. As a result, earnings from mining have continued to shrink. In fact, most people in the west can no longer mine BTC due to the high power prices.

This means that most mining now takes place in the East, where power is cheap. This is why China controls such a huge percent of the BTC mining power. Power is now the most important factor in BTC mining and whenever it can be found cheaply, miners will seek it out.