Ali Sahraee, the principal executive officer of the Tehran Stock Substitution since 2022, has reportedly resigned after the discovery of cryptocurrency mining rigs in the building.

According to a report from the state's state-run media, the Islamic Democracy News Agency, Tehran Stock Exchange, or TSE, market vice president Mahmoud Goudarzi will exist leading the visitor following the departure of Sahraee. The modify in leadership seems to exist the upshot of "a number of miners" beingness discovered in the basement of the TSE building located in the district of Sa'adat Abad.

The TSE reportedly initially denied the beingness of the miners, saying the equipment was part of a research project. However, executive deputy managing director Beheshti-Sarsht afterwards said the visitor should exist held accountable for its actions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced in May that Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency mining would be prohibited over the summer in an endeavour to reduce the demands on the country's power grid. It's unclear when authorities discovered the mining rigs in a "sudden inspection" of the TSE basement, but the activity was seemingly still illegal until the last week of September.

During the ban, authorities conducted many raids on crypto miners big and small-scale, seizing illegally operating miners and fining households responsible for generating blocks. Withal, the majority of the raids were focused on abased factories, homes, and small businesses — nothing quite equally loftier contour as Iran's largest stock exchange.

Related: Iranian crypto miners using household energy will confront large fines

The free energy crisis in Iran has led to blackouts and brownouts, with many officials blaming crypto mining for sucking up the juice. However, an August report from the country'due south Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade said that the claims that some authorities had fabricated regarding the power usage of crypto miners "seem to be highly exaggerated."