Our weekly roundup of news from Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
Southeast Asia’s power struggles with Bitcoin miners
Southeast Asia became a Bitcoin mining hotspot after the great China crackdown of 2021. Now authorities in various regions are battling a huge surge in electricity theft used to fuel these mining activities.
This week Malaysian authorities arrested seven individuals suspected of illegally mining Bitcoin using stolen electricity, according to state media outlet Bernama.
The police seized 52 mining rigs, along with electronic devices and a couple of vehicles, valued at approximately 250,000 ringgit, or $57,000.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of the electricity theft Bitcoin mining issue across tropical Asia.
In July, Malaysia’s deputy energy minister reported that illegal crypto-mining operators had stolen an estimated $723 million worth of electricity between 2018 and 2023.
Local journalists capture images and videos of Malaysian police steamrolling Bitcoin rigs. (Malaysia Gazette)
And the Malaysian authorities are quite the showmen when it comes to dealing with confiscated mining equipment.
They recently used a steamroller to crush nearly 1,000 Bitcoin mining rigs, valued at $452,000. This stunt echoed a similar one in 2021 when $1.25 million worth of mining rigs were destroyed.
Across Southeast Asia, similar incidents are being reported after miners fleeing China sought refuge in neighboring countries.
In Thailand, an investigation into electricity theft in April led to the confiscation of mining rigs valued at more than $5.8 million, according to local media. The raids were conducted after authorities noticed unusually high electricity consumption at certain locations.
Indonesia has also been grappling with this problem. In December 2023, Indonesian police shut down 10 mining sites accused of stealing over $1 million worth of…
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