Audacious! Icelandic Bitcoin thief escapes from prison, 600 mining machines missing, and flies on the same plane with the Prime Minister

Bitcoin thief escapes prison. Either this guy is really good at crime, or Iceland is really bad at security. An alleged mastermind behind the theft of $3 million worth of bitcoin mining equipment has escaped from an Icelandic prison, authorities said. And, he was allegedly on the same plane as Iceland's prime minister.

In Iceland, news media called him the "Bitcoin Thief." In four separate robberies, 600 Bitcoin mining machines were stolen and have not been found. Many people have been arrested in connection with the crime, including Sindri Thor Stefansson, a man suspected by police of involvement in the scheme. But Stefansson was not detained and was reportedly flown to Sweden on Tuesday.

According to the Associated Press: Icelandic police said they believe Stefansson escaped from the low-security prison through a window and boarded a flight to Sweden at Keflavik's international airport in Iceland.

Icelandic officials said it was unlikely that Stefansson had a passport at the airport since he was travelling within Europe's passport-free Schengen travel zone, but the ticket he used was in someone else's name.

A passenger on the same plane as Stefansson told Icelandic media that Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir was also on the flight. Jakobsdottir met with the Indian Prime Minister in Stockholm on Tuesday for talks on a range of issues.

Police chief Gunnar Schram told Icelandic TV station Visir that authorities are convinced Stefansson had an accomplice who helped him escape from Sogn prison to Keflavík International Airport. The rural prison is 95 kilometers from the airport and has no fences, so prisoners can easily make phone calls and access the internet, The Guardian reported. So far, two people have been questioned on suspicion of helping him escape.

Iceland has become an attractive location for Bitcoin miners because it uses hydroelectric plants with low electricity costs. But it's a small country with a population of only 340,000, and large amounts of energy-consuming mining activity can easily attract attention. In February, the Associated Press reported that Iceland's cryptocurrency data centers are on track to consume more energy than all of Iceland's households combined, leading observers to worry that the grid would be overloaded. For someone to set up a center with 600 miners in Iceland without being noticed seems unlikely, and none of the stolen items have been found, suggesting the equipment was moved out of the country.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency prices have fallen well below the record levels of the final months of 2017, while the most powerful players are consolidating their control over the industry. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that small miners are on the verge of breaking even. Huge mining operations keep costs low by making their own equipment and buying space and electricity in bulk. Crescent Electric Supply estimates that the electricity cost to mine one bitcoin in the United States ranges from $4,149 to $11,583, depending on where you are. Currently, one bitcoin is worth $10,427. It's not hard to imagine why some cryptocurrency entrepreneurs would like to drive the cost of their equipment down to zero.