A forensic investigation into how 5,000 years of Persian resilience collided with the Bitcoin protocol, and why the world must understand what happened next.
“They bombed a nuclear site. Bitcoin lost 189 EH/s. But the blocks kept coming.”
No empire can bomb mathematics. But they tried. Every Bitcoiner, June 2025
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This investigation examines Bitcoin’s monetary properties and mining infrastructure through the lens of geopolitical events. The analysis maintains strict neutrality regarding domestic policies or human rights records of any government. Bitcoin serves all humanity regardless of political systems. Its mathematical neutrality is precisely what makes it valuable as censorship-resistant money. This report focuses solely on the technical, economic, and monetary implications of infrastructure attacks on decentralized networks.
⚡ Executive Summary
On June 22, 2025, U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The world saw an act of kinetic warfare. The Bitcoin network saw something else: a direct strike on a major node in the global monetary energy matrix.
In just 72 hours, the Bitcoin hashrate fell from 943 EH/s to a low of 753.81 EH/s, a staggering 189.19 EH/s collapse, equivalent to cutting power to 1.9 million of the world’s most advanced mining rigs. By June 25, partial recovery to 861 EH/s demonstrated both network resilience and Iranian adaptive capacity.
What happened wasn’t just geopolitical. It was monetary history in motion. For the first time, kinetic warfare disrupted a decentralized, apolitical financial system. This exposed the global stakes of Bitcoin mining and the role of sovereign energy in securing economic freedom.
This report documents how Iran, a civilization with unbroken sovereignty dating back to 3200 BC, became a critical contributor to Bitcoin’s network security. It shows how sound money theory, energy economics, and civilizational memory converged in a moment of profound consequence.
I. The Day Hashrate Dropped: Precision Timeline Analysis
On the surface, it was a military operation. In reality, it was an act of financial warfare.
June 22, 2025: U.S. and Israeli forces struck Iran’s nuclear facilities using 14 GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds. Three key targets — Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan — were hit with precision munitions, disrupting regional energy distribution and causing widespread power outages.
The Network Response: • Pre-strike: 943 EH/s (network peak) • June 24: 753.81 EH/s (lowest point) • June 25: 861 EH/s (partial recovery) • Total decline: 189.19 EH/s (20.05% network disruption)
Context: • 1 EH/s = 1 quintillion hashes per second • 189 EH/s = 1.9 million S19 XP miners unplugged overnight • Iran’s theoretical max contribution: ~29.2 EH/s (3.1% of network) • Unexplained amplification: ~160 EH/s suggests cascading regional effects
Blocks mined. Transactions cleared. Consensus never blinked.
Despite massive disruption, the network stayed operational. Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment mechanism, embedded in its code since genesis, began compensating immediately.
The system bent. It didn’t break.
II. Persia: The World’s Oldest Sovereign State
Iran isn’t just a country. It’s the oldest continuous state on Earth.
Historical Foundation: • Organized governance since 3200 BC (verified archaeological evidence) • The Elamite civilization built urban centers and water systems when most of the world was tribal • G.W.F. Hegel called Persia “the first Historical People” for good reason: institutional memory, adaptive governance, strategic depth
Modern Infrastructure: • 88.9 million citizens • 736 researchers per million people (approaching global averages) • 64,000+ research-active firms (doubled between 2006–2011) • 841 Iranian researchers ranked in world’s top 1% most-cited scientists (up 340% since 2018) • 54,800 full-time equivalent researchers
This isn’t just legacy. It’s resilience. Iran’s civilizational depth and scientific capacity form the perfect substrate for securing a new form of apolitical money.
III. Mining Bitcoin in a Sanctioned Empire
Why Iran Embraced Bitcoin Mining
In 2019, Iranian officials formally legalized Bitcoin mining. This wasn’t a trend, it was strategy. The goal was to convert stranded energy into sovereign monetary reserves, beyond the reach of sanctions or SWIFT bans.
Why the Strategy Worked: • Abundant natural gas reserves, constrained by sanctions • Subsidized electricity as low as $0.02/kWh (vs. global average >$0.10) • Energy-intensive industries restricted by sanctions; capacity diverted to mining • Chinese miners (e.g., RHY) brought hardware, capital, and technical knowledge
The Numbers: • Peak performance (2021): 4.5% of global hashrate, over $1 billion/year • Current capacity (2024): 3.1% of network, 450 MW total consumption • Chinese operations: 175 MW of Iran’s capacity • Annual revenue: $400–600 million, fully outside traditional finance • Energy equivalent: approximately 10 million barrels of oil/year converted to Bitcoin
Every Bitcoin mined is energy transformed into unfreezable wealth.
IV. Austrian Economics at 60 Hz
Ludwig von Mises (1912): “Money is not created by law. It emerges from markets.”
Bitcoin is the digital embodiment of that truth. It has no issuer. It requires no permission. It runs on mathematics and electricity.
The Regression Theorem in Action Bitcoin gains value from provable energy use. Iranian miners burn natural gas, not to power factories, but to mint incorruptible money.
Carl Menger’s Organic Money, Live: • Iranian state: sanctions relief • Chinese miners: profit margins • Iranian citizens: escape from rial devaluation • Bitcoin network: added hash security
No flags. No fiat. Just energy in, Bitcoin out.
V. The Revolutionary Guards Understand Sound Money
When the IRGC joined Bitcoin mining, it wasn’t about ideology. It was about strategic independence.
They understood the core truth: Fiat means control by foreign adversaries. Bitcoin means control by math and consensus.
Strategic Reality: IRGC-linked mining consumes 2,000+ MW daily through both licensed and unlicensed operations. Much of it operates outside regulatory frameworks, showing that markets move faster than ministries.
The same Bitcoin network that empowers dissidents is secured by the state’s own rigs.
Bitcoin’s Neutrality: • One block every ten minutes • 21 million coins • No exemptions for kings, generals, or central banks
VI. Sound Money, Sanctions, and Global Arbitrage
The $0.02 Advantage
Iran’s $0.02/kWh electricity rate provides a 5x cost advantage over most of the West. It’s one of the most profitable mining hubs on Earth.
The China–Iran Alliance: Chinese mining firms like RHY operate 175 MW inside Iran. The country’s total mining capacity is 450 MW. This alliance isn’t political. It’s thermodynamic. Iranian gas plus Chinese ASICs equals censorship-resistant global money.
Revenue Flows: Iran uses Bitcoin mined domestically to pay for sanctioned imports. According to officials, it is “selling energy reserves to the world through Bitcoin.”
VII. The Fallout: Real-Time Economic Warfare
Immediate Network Impact: • Hashrate fell 189.19 EH/s (943 to 753.81 EH/s) • Iran’s theoretical share: ~29.2 EH/s • Unexplained loss: ~160 EH/s, indicating broader regional dependence
This wasn’t a local outage. It was global monetary turbulence.
Market Response: • $949 million liquidated in 24 hours • $849 million from long positions • Bitcoin: $101,200 → $98,500, followed by full recovery • Total crypto market fell 2.4% to $3.2 trillion
Recovery: By June 25, hashrate returned to 861 EH/s.
Attacks slow the network. Adjustments restore it. Incentives reallocate it.
VIII. Mining as Critical Monetary Infrastructure
Iran’s miners were not just producing blocks. They were: • Generating non-seizable national revenue • Providing civilians access to Bitcoin • Supporting global network neutrality • Converting energy into liquid, global assets
Recovery Snapshot: The return of 108 EH/s within days highlights: Bitcoin’s code-level antifragilityIran’s long-term civilizational resilience
IX. What Austrian Economists Always Understood
Governments fear what they cannot print or freeze. That is Bitcoin.
Why Iran’s Role Matters Globally: • Proves that energy equals sovereignty • Demonstrates Bitcoin as neutral infrastructure • Validates Austrian theory under sanctions • Shows that post-halving (3.125 BTC), mining remains economically viable
This isn’t about political sympathy. It’s about understanding money.
X. A Global Call to Hash
To Iranian Bitcoiners (supporters of the government): You’re helping defend monetary sovereignty without relying on the dollar.
To Iranian Bitcoiners (opponents of the government): You’re preserving wealth and evading currency debasement. The same code serves both sides.
To Global Bitcoiners: Iranian hash power is part of your network. Bitcoin neutrality means future-proofing for everyone.
To Policymakers: Bitcoin mining is not a fad. It is strategic infrastructure. Deny it and fall behind. Embrace it and gain sovereignty.
XI. Conclusion: You Can’t Bomb Mathematics
Operation Midnight Hammer revealed a new front in the history of money. A military strike disrupted decentralized financial infrastructure for the first time.
But Bitcoin survived.
Energy was reallocated. Miners adapted. Consensus kept ticking.
The future doesn’t run on policy memos. It runs on hashpower.
Iran proved that even a sanctioned, embattled nation can help secure global sound money using energy, science, and time-tested resilience.
The network is global. The incentives are apolitical. The protocol doesn’t care about your passport.
Welcome to the age of mathematical sovereignty.
Final Word: Archive Before It’s Memory-Holed
This isn’t a post. It’s a reference, a syllabus, and a blueprint.
Action Items: • Share with your local Bitcoin meetup • Send to professors of finance, economics, and international relations • Translate it • Archive it • Teach it
Empires will keep trying to bomb the future. Your job is to make sure it doesn’t flinch.
Sources & Data Verification
• Blockchain Monitoring: Mempool.space, Foundry USA, MARA Pool
• #Electricity Prices: #Iran Ministry of #Energy, Statista, IEA
• Hashrate Data: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI)
• Academic Metrics: SCImago 2024, Global Innovation Index
• Historical Sources:
• G.W.F. Hegel – Philosophy of History
• Ludwig von Mises – Theory of Money and Credit (1912)
• Carl Menger – Principles of Economics (1871)
• Technical Sources:
• #Bitcoin Whitepaper – Satoshi Nakamoto
• Mining hardware specs – Antminer S19 XP
• Bitcoin difficulty adjustment algorithm (BIP-34, BIP-101)
The code runs on every continent, in every political system, powered by every energy source humanity can harness. This is Bitcoin’s genius and promise: mathematically enforced neutrality serving human freedom everywhere.
It was never about price. It was always about power.
