Malaysian authorities have arrested seven people for allegedly conducting a Bitcoin mining operation that included theft of electricity, according to local media reports.
Bernama, the country’s national news agency, Reported Three locals and four foreigners were separately arrested and detained last week on suspicion of stealing electricity needed for a Bitcoin mining operation, it was announced on Saturday.
Sepang District Police Chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said the men had no previous criminal records and that authorities were aiming to “detect illegal Bitcoin mining activities that involve electricity theft,” according to the report.
Local police seized 52 bitcoin mining rigs and other electronic devices, with a total value of RM250,000 (US$57,000), they added.
The law enforcement operation was part of a wider crackdown on power theft issues linked to Bitcoin miners. Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, Minister of State for Energy Transition and Water Transformation, I told you last month Malaysian cryptocurrency miners have been found to have stolen at least RM3.4 billion ($777 million) worth of electricity between 2018 and 2023.
Cryptocurrency mining operations are increasingly moving away from China, which banned all cryptocurrency mining activities in 2021, to places like the United States, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, and Thailand. Southeast Asian countries are attractive to miners because of their competitive electricity prices, skilled workforce and existing infrastructure.
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