Malaysian Authorities have successfully apprehended a notorious group of illegal miners who have been clandestinely siphoning off stolen power to fuel their operations. According to The Borneo Post, Sarawak Energy, a state-owned electric company, did a crackdown on illicit cryptocurrency mining authorities.
When the police raided a shophouse in Marina Square, Miri to look into possible electricity theft, they discovered a bitcoin mining operation inside. The authorities have shut down the mining facility now after receiving a report from the general public.
Source: Flickr
Through cable tapping, Sarawak Energy found the enterprise, which featured 34 mining servers using stolen electricity.
“Electricity theft is a serious offence under Section 33(5) of the Electricity Ordinance, which carries a penalty of up to RM100,000 and/or five years’ jail if found guilty,” Sarawak Energy stated.
Authorities have taken 137 servers in all from these sites, and they are still looking for those who are to blame.
The general public is urged not to believe promises made by service providers that, through metre tampering, they will use less electricity or give infinite electricity.
This audacious act of exploiting the region’s energy resources for personal gain has sent shockwaves throughout the digital community and underscored the urgent need for stringent measures in curbing such activities.
As the illicit crypto mining industry faces a stern warning from authorities, this unprecedented event serves as a reminder of both the allure and repercussions associated with these decentralized digital assets.
It was calculated that the operation used around $1300 worth of stolen electricity each month. This incident comes after one in which 137 mining servers were confiscated in Senadin, a city in the same state as Miri, earlier this year.
The Network Complexity Of Bitcoin: How It Affects Miners
The network difficulty of Bitcoin has reached record-high levels, which has added to the difficulties miners confront and made it harder for them to receive rewards.
According to experts, mining a single bitcoin might cost businesses upwards of $30,000, and the return of 3.125 bitcoins (about $92,000 at the time of writing) may not be enough for all operators to cover costs.
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Due to Malaysia’s very low electricity rates, unauthorized mining operations are drawn to steal electricity from the grid in order to reduce operating expenses and increase earnings.
