I am the organizer | Stealing electricity to "mine Bitcoin" will eventually lead to the law

Preface:

In recent years, the hot market of virtual currencies represented by Bitcoin has attracted various "gold diggers". It is not issued by a specific monetary institution, but is generated through a large number of calculations based on a specific algorithm. This process is called "mining". "Mining" is costly. "Mining" each Bitcoin consumes 38,800 degrees of electricity. For this reason, some lawless elements have started to think of "wrong ideas".

This issue of the "I am the organizer" WeChat legal education column brings you a case of stealing electricity for "mining".

No.1

Case Review

In recent years, Hua has used a "mining machine" to mine virtual currency for profit. In January 2018, in order to reduce the electricity consumption cost of mining, Hua privately modified the electric meter and stole electricity by using more and counting less. Fearing that the theft of electricity would be exposed, Hua contacted others to remove the modified parts in September 2018. After that, the electric meter had reverse current due to inaccurate counting.

In December 2018, the power supply company sent staff to Hua's home to check because they detected a problem with the meter readings. Although it was clear that the meter was broken and needed to be replaced immediately, Hua repeatedly shirked the power supply company's request to replace the meter, and kept his computer, which had 15 USB flash drives and 6 solid-state hard drives plugged in, running all the time.

No.2

Court ruling

After trial, our court held that Hua's behavior constituted the crime of theft. Combining evidence such as witness testimony, expert opinions, electricity user electricity consumption information collection data, and power grid sales price list, we further determined that the total value of Hua's stolen electricity was more than 26,050.46 yuan. Taking into account the fact that he showed remorse, paid the arrears, and violated the contract to use electricity fees, he was sentenced to one year and four months in prison, suspended for one year and six months, and fined 3,000 yuan.

No.3

The organizer said

In recent years, the value of virtual currencies represented by Bitcoin has risen sharply, attracting more and more people to invest in this industry. However, behind this "wealth code" is a large consumption of electricity resources. In addition, because Bitcoin is often used for illegal economic activities such as money laundering, my country's supervision of Bitcoin "mining" and transactions has gradually become stricter, and many places are comprehensively cleaning up and shutting down Bitcoin "mining" projects built under various names.

In the face of interests, some people are willing to take risks and steal national power resources in order to reduce the cost of "mining". According to the relevant provisions of the "Power Supply Business Rules", "Electricity Law of the People's Republic of China" and "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China", electricity thieves not only need to bear civil liability for paying back electricity fees and breaching the contract, but may also be held criminally liable by judicial authorities if they constitute a crime. The presiding judge hereby reminds you carefully: Stealing electricity is illegal and must not be done!

Source: Qiu Fugen and Chen Vanke