Henan police cracked a major Bitcoin theft case: 40,000 kWh of electricity was stolen every day, enough for a family of three to use for 40 years

△Photo source: State Grid Pingdingshan Power Supply Company

Reporter Pan Ting of Meijing.com Editor Lu Jiuan of Meijing.com

For Bitcoin miners, it is common for mining machines to work continuously, and the resulting electricity bill is also a considerable expense. In order to avoid this expense, some miners have come up with the idea of ​​"stealing electricity".

A reporter from the Daily Economic News learned that recently, the police in Pingdingshan, Henan Province, uncovered a case of electricity theft involving "Bitcoin mining machines", and seized more than 1,700 Bitcoin mining machines, one transformer, several distribution cabinets, and distribution boxes on the spot. It is reported that this is the largest case of electricity theft involving mining machines discovered in the power supply area of ​​the Pingdingshan Power Supply Company.

According to preliminary calculations, the amount of electricity stolen from this electricity theft den is nearly 40,000 kWh a day. According to rough statistics, the amount of electricity stolen in one day can be used by a family of three (based on the annual electricity consumption of 1,000 kWh for a family of three) for 40 years.

The average daily electricity theft of 40,000 kWh is enough for a family of three for 40 years

Bitcoin mining machines are special computers that earn Bitcoins by running algorithms. These computers generally have professional mining chips and work by listing a large number of graphics cards, which consumes a lot of electricity. As the price of Bitcoin declines and the difficulty of mining gradually increases with the decrease in the number of Bitcoins, mining work is unprofitable. Many "miners" take risks and start stealing electricity to mine. Especially around 2018, there were many cases of Bitcoin mining machines stealing electricity in China.

According to the State Grid Pingdingshan Power Supply Company, recent data analysis shows that there may be electricity theft at the 200 kVA transformer station registered by the city's electricity user named Changsheng Stationery Store.

On the morning of April 3, more than 20 public security personnel and more than 10 power supply professionals conducted a surprise electricity inspection at an abandoned factory building in Jiulishan Street, Zhanhe District. They confirmed the theft of electricity on the spot and detained two suspects at the scene.

It is reported that dozens of cables were scattered on the ground in the factory building, and the steel frame in the house reached the roof directly, with a total of 12 horizontal layers and 13 vertical compartments, stacking nearly 1,700 Bitcoin mining machines. According to preliminary calculations, the amount of electricity stolen in this power theft den is nearly 40,000 kWh a day, which can be used by a family of three (based on the annual electricity consumption of 1,000 kWh for a family of three) for 40 years.

According to relevant personnel, the case uncovered this time is the largest in the company's power supply area, with more than 1,700 mining machines consuming electricity equivalent to several large communities. In addition, the suspect's residence was running Bitcoin trading software, and the mined Bitcoins could be cashed in real time through this trading platform. Pingdingshan Power Supply Company said that since 2018, the company has cooperated with the public security department to uncover 21 similar "mining machine" electricity theft cases.

If the theft of electricity occurs repeatedly and constitutes a crime, criminal liability will be pursued in accordance with the law

Coincidentally, the Cangzhou Municipal People's Government also announced a number of cases of electricity theft involving "Bitcoin mining" a few days ago.

According to reports, in January this year, staff of the Cangzhou Power Supply Company uncovered a case of Bitcoin mining machine stealing electricity, and seized more than 1,000 Bitcoin mining machines and two 1,000 kVA transformers on the spot. Criminal police officers of the Cangzhou Public Security Bureau went to Anhui, Jiangxi and Jilin to arrest four suspects, and the case is currently under further investigation and trial. Since the beginning of this year, the Cangzhou Power Supply Company has worked closely with the Cangzhou police, and has seized nearly 4,000 mining machines involved in the case. In the first quarter of 2019, the Cangzhou Power Supply Company carried out a number of special police-enterprise joint anti-electricity theft operations, and seized more than 300 cases of electricity theft.

The reporter of the Daily Economic News noticed that as mining has become more popular in recent years, the practice of stealing electricity for mining has also emerged. The reporter searched for the keyword "stealing electricity for mining" and found that there are many reports of this kind.

△ Screenshot of Baidu search page for "stealing electricity for mining"

It is worth mentioning that serious acts of stealing electricity will constitute a crime. Article 71 of the Electricity Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if electricity is stolen, the power management department shall order the person to stop the illegal behavior, recover the electricity fee and impose a fine of no more than five times the payable electricity fee; if it constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with Articles 151 or 152 of the Criminal Law.

(Cover image source: State Grid Pingdingshan Power Supply Company)