Financial Tribune - Electricity bills for cryptocurrency miners should be calculated in real prices, a deputy energy minister said in Tehran at the weekend.

Homayoun Haeri said crypto miners should pay their power bills as per the same rates considered for electricity export, IRNA reported.

According to media reports, the government annually pays close to $1 billion in subsidies to plug the huge gap in real energy costs and the bills sent to consumers.

Experts say consumers pay a fraction of the real cost and are oblivious to prudent energy use and unending government appeals for reducing consumption and waste.

Despite the prohibitions on trading and mining cryptocurrencies in Iran, the relatively low electricity costs and tanking of the rial due to the US sanctions has made the temptation for mining and trading cryptocurrencies all the more higher.