Police in Malaysia have shut down a large Bitcoin mine in the country. A total of 1,720 Bitcoin mining machines were confiscated along with other devices as evidence.
"It was revealed that based on residents' reports, they had carried out illegal Bitcoin mining activities and stolen large amounts of electricity," the local police said.
The mining site is in the Manjung district. Police say this is one of the largest Bitcoin mining raids ever carried out.
The total stolen electricity is estimated at USD 478,000 . Not only Bitcoin machines, many more devices were confiscated in the operation.
Among them are 15 monitors, 22 CPUs, 16 keyboards, 7 mice, a laptop and 54 modems. "A Toyota Hillux vehicle was also seized, 5 alarm devices and 7 CCTV cameras," added the police, quoted by Bitcoin.com.
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Currently, an investigation is underway to find out who is behind the illegal Bitcoin mining and how long it has been operating. A 28-year-old suspect has been arrested.
Illegal Bitcoin mining is rife in the neighboring country. Last year, 1,069 crypto mining tools such as Bitcoin and Ethereum were destroyed with stoom. The PC machines were taken in six raids held between February and April in 2021.
The miners were found guilty of illegally stealing electricity from power company Sarawak Energy Berhad. The Bitcoin mining operator was accused of stealing electrical energy with a value of around USD 2 million.
Those who want to mine Bitcoin, Ethereum and others use a modified PC and it usually consumes a lot of energy. This energy waste is also what makes Bitcoin mining a lot of criticism because it is considered harmful to the environment.
