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- Seizure of 1,746 bitcoin mining machines worth $64,000 has baffled authorities
- Local electricity board with thieves across various age groups are involved
Bitcoin Miners in Malaysia Steal Electricity
In the past few months, electricity worth $2 million has been stolen from the state of Johor Bahru, Malaysia, for mining of Bitcoins. The accused men, who are in the range of 24 – 64 years, have allegedly been altering electrical monitoring hardware to appear as if their respective locations have been consuming more electricity than they actually were.
The local authorities estimate that bitcoin miners stole approximately $22 million in electricity in the surrounding area in 2020 itself. In this case, the local electricity company, i.e. Tenga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and the Johor police, cracked down that a local gang had costed electricity worth 8.6 million Malaysian ringgits ($2.13 million) in lost revenue since it commenced the mining activities in early 2020.
This issue seems to be exceptionally grave since the police authorities have not been able to track down the mastermind. Simultaneously, it has tracked that the illegal activities were being carried out on the top floor of a shop-house to easily dodge the authorities’ eyes. There have been 1,746 bitcoin mining machines across 21 premises that are seized worth around $64,000. Investigators are also not ruling out the possibility of a massive syndicate being involved in the entire racket and possible links with syndicates in various other states with similar modus operandi utilised in their bitcoin mining activities.
Humanity Needs to be Prevented
One of the worrying signs is that electricity is not evenly spread out globally, and governments are responsible for managing electric supply. Diversion of such a commodity without knowledge of the government is a serious flaw which is troublesome for the local public from a global perspective. If there is no crackdown on false energy consumption for cryptocurrency mining, humanity’s future could be at stake.
Cryptocurrencies require exorbitant amounts of energy for mining, with electric consumption for the same considered more than Argentina’s country. As long as millions of dollars’ worth of electricity are churned to produce what is essentially Monopoly Money, the entire planet would be at a loss. The broader picture has to be ascertained for nations that are liberal and those who have stringent norms in place for cryptocurrency trading.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
