How powerful is Bitcoin? Let the thief tell you

This morning, there was a news report about the theft of a Bitcoin mining machine: On July 12 , police officers from the High-tech Police Station of the Jiaozuo Public Security Bureau in Henan Province used a variety of investigative methods to successfully crack a major theft case of Bitcoin mining machines, arrested 9 criminal suspects , and went to other provinces to seize 202 Bitcoin mining machines with a total value of more than 500,000 yuan .

In fact, this is not the first time that a similar Bitcoin mining machine has been stolen, and in terms of the amount involved, it is not the largest. PS : Now, let me talk about the story of Bitcoin mining machines and thieves, and let the thief tell you how powerful Bitcoin is.

According to the available information, criminal cases related to Bitcoin mining machines are currently divided into two categories. One is the theft of Bitcoin mining machines; the other is the theft of electricity by Bitcoin miners. However, the purpose of the theft in both types of criminal cases is the same, that is, to use Bitcoin mining machines to obtain more money through illegal means.

  Type 1:

On December 23, 2015 , the Yushan Branch of the Ma'anshan Public Security Bureau and the Nanjing police cracked a major burglary case involving collusion between insiders and outsiders, arrested four suspects , recovered all 136 stolen Bitcoin mining machines worth more than 1.6 million yuan , and seized two vehicles used in the crime .

On July 12, 2016 , police officers from the High-tech Police Station of the Jiaozuo Public Security Bureau in Henan Province used a variety of investigative methods to successfully solve a major case of theft of Bitcoin mining machines, arrested nine suspects , and went to other provinces to seize 202 Bitcoin mining machines with a total value of more than 500,000 yuan .

  Type 2:

  On March 10 , 2015 , anti-electricity theft personnel of Ma'anshan Power Supply Bureau and the police discovered nearly 200 Bitcoin mining machines in a residential area . After on-site inspection, it was found that the miner had privately connected a 380- volt three-phase four-wire power supply, and the actual measured current on site reached 200 amperes, which was a serious act of electricity theft.

On May 28, 2015 , the Suzhou Taicang Power Supply Department and local police seized nine Bitcoin mining machines that were found to be stealing electricity in a residential area. Upon inspection, it was found that the miners had privately modified the electricity meters to steal about 2,000 kWh of electricity per day .

On June 15 , 2015 , the Ma'anshan Chujiang Public Security Bureau organized police forces to attack and destroy five Bitcoin mining and electricity theft dens near the Magang factory area , seized more than 3,000 Bitcoin mining machines on the spot , and arrested five criminal suspects .

According to the above cases, Bitcoin mining machine theft and electricity theft cases occur frequently in Ma'anshan, Anhui, which is related to the strong local steel and power industry. A considerable number of electricity theft miners steal electricity by privately pulling wires to Ma'anshan Steel Plant, and a certain scale has been formed in the urban villages near the Ma'anshan Steel Plant. The Ma'anshan police are under great pressure.

In the case of stolen mining machines, some criminals did not resell the stolen mining machines, but used them for mining. As the saying goes, "It is better to steal fish than to fish with them." The real identity of these thieves or the masterminds behind the scenes are actually Bitcoin miners. In the world of Bitcoin mining, computing power is money, and computing power is represented by mining machines in real life. Under the premise of average electricity costs, whoever owns more mining machines with high computing power will have more wealth. In the current situation where Bitcoin is halved again, the competition between miners will become more and more fierce, and similar cases are expected to increase.