To mine Bitcoin, this Chinese miner stole more than 80,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity

The theft of electricity began in April 2018, with the value of the stolen electricity exceeding 60,000 yuan.

Yanzhao Metropolis Daily (Reporter Wu Yanli, Correspondent Dong Jie, Shi Mengxian) Cryptocurrency mining consumes a lot of electricity, which undoubtedly increases the cost of mining. Therefore, some illegal personnel mine Bitcoin by "stealing electricity" and make profits from it.

Recently, the Lunan police in Tangshan conducted an all-out investigation and cracked down on the first case of Bitcoin mining machine theft of electricity involving 60,000 yuan, and arrested the suspect Duan.

Since 2018, the Liangjiatun Police Station of the Lunan Public Security Bureau has discovered unusual noises in rental houses in its jurisdiction. The Lunan police attached great importance to it and visited the community several times, discovering that there were suspected high-power electricity-consuming equipment in the community. After understanding the situation, the Lunan police cooperated with the power department to obtain evidence and work together.

After multiple investigations, the police found that Duan was a major suspect in stealing electricity to run a Bitcoin mining machine, so they quickly launched a capture operation. Finally, on March 8, Duan was successfully arrested and 8 Bitcoin mining machines were seized.

After interrogation, the suspect Duan confessed to illegally stealing electricity to run Bitcoin mining machines since April 2018. Since these devices are running 24 hours a day, the power consumption is extremely high. According to the power department, Duan illegally stole more than 80,000 kWh of electricity, involving a value of more than 60,000 yuan.

At present, the suspect Duan has been detained and the case is under further investigation.