Malaysian police have steamrollered hundreds of bitcoin mining rigs

Malaysian authorities crushed 985 people Bitcoin Mines are sometimes associated with electricity theft at the national level on Monday crypto miners.

The circulating video shows a heavy-duty steam roller moving slowly over the object MiningTrying to destroy them – although many of them seem to have survived at least the first round, as seen in the embedded Twitter video below.

According to a report in a Malaysian newspaper, equipment worth RM1.98 million ($450,000) was seized in the operation led by the Perak District Police Headquarters.

The destruction of seized properties comes as the Malaysian government tries to crack down on electricity theft.

Bitcoin mining It's an energy-intensive activity that scares people who pay electricity bills. Climate activists. Margins for Bitcoin miners are slimmer than ever, a concern that seems to have prompted some Malaysian miners to try and reduce their costs. Creator ways.

Malaysia's electricity worth RM3.4 billion ($776 million) has been stolen by crypto mining groups over a five-year period, according to Deputy Energy Transition and Water Transition Minister Akmal Nasrallah Mohd Nasr. Local media.

as if 2020 issueThe police explained that this was done by “illegal wiring” by turning the meter. This resulted in two mining operations having a peak electricity bill of only $14.48, despite the theft of over $600,000 worth of power in the process.

All the recently destroyed miners are the result of a year-long raid in the town of Seri Iskandar, three hours away from the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Last week, seven people were arrested for their involvement in bitcoin mining in two towns near the capital. Sepang District Police Chief ACP Wang Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof press release.

Malaysian authorities have been fighting this battle for years, and this is not the first time we have seen results like this. In the year In 2021, some 1,069 Bitcoin miners will similarly be in A High steam roller After connecting with Electricity theft. In this case, six individuals were arrested, fined and sentenced to up to eight months in prison.

Edited by Andrew Hayward.