According to local media, Chinese police seized more than 200 computers that were used to mine Bitcoin and Ethereum without paying electricity bills.
Anhui provincial police seized the equipment after officers were alerted to abnormally high energy consumption by a local power grid operator, according to a report from state-run Xinhua. The suspect, surnamed Ma, allegedly stole more than 150,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity within a month. During the investigation, police discovered that the electricity meter had been switched off to evade payment of bills.
Cryptocurrency mining is a very energy-intensive process. Miners make a profit if the value of the mined coins exceeds the cost of electricity and computing power.
The accused miner told police that he bought the mining equipment before realizing that the required daily cost for the operation was more than 6,000 yuan ($923). Police say Ma made no profit from the operation.
Recently in the city of Tianjin, police seized 600 miners after the local power grid operator reported sudden spikes in energy consumption. It is believed that 6 people were involved in this operation.
Despite a government crackdown on the domestic cryptocurrency market, once the world's largest, China is still home to many miners due to its relatively cheap labor and electricity. Such control has led to many cryptocurrency organizations leaving China and establishing themselves in Switzerland or the USA.
According to https://www.ccn.com
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