Cases of stealing electricity resources for Bitcoin mining occurred in Tianjin and Wuhan

Electricity theft for bitcoin mining has reportedly occurred in two Chinese cities.

In the first case, six people were arrested in Tianjin, where Xinhua News Agency said the suspects were suspected of hiring 600 cryptocurrency miners to steal electricity from the local grid to mine bitcoin. Police claimed they short-circuited electricity meters to avoid paying the resulting electricity bills.

Xinhua said an investigation was launched after the local power company noticed a significant discrepancy between power usage and measured currents, and that 600 computers used for bitcoin mining and eight high-powered fans were confiscated.

The report noted that this was the largest case of electricity theft in China in recent years. Despite signs that China may take tough measures to suppress the industry, China still dominates the Bitcoin mining industry.

Meanwhile, Wuhan police also arrested two suspects accused of stealing electricity, according to another report today on the official news website of China's top prosecutor.

The two suspects allegedly rented a vacant warehouse being demolished since March 2017 to house bitcoin mining machines, and similar to the case in Tianjin, they also stole electricity.