Bitcoin Miners In Malaysia Steal $550 Million Worth Of Electricity

Although Bitcoin mining is perfectly legal in Malaysia, due to the enormous amount of energy required, power theft for mining is a problem that is rapidly becoming more prevalent in the country. According to Baharin Din, the president and chief executive officer of Tenaga Nasional, a Malaysian multinational electricity company, Bitcoin miners in Malaysia have stolen electricity worth $550 million between 2018 and 2021, resulting in the arrest of 18 people. This is in relation to the total number of cases which increased from 610 in 2018 to 7,209 in 2021. Aside from that, Baharin predicts that the criminal use of power to mine digital currencies would continue to grow in the coming days. This is due to the fact that it is quite simple to tap into illegal connections in the country. Baharin said, “The irresponsible perpetrators are doing it at the expense of the security and reliability of supply for the public at large”. Tenaga Nasional Proposes Countermeasures to Electricity Theft for Mining While cryptocurrency mining is not prohibited in Malaysia, it has strict restrictions in place to prevent unlawful power use. But as mining continues to gain popularity in the country, illegal power use also continues to rise. Miners have used tactics such as interfering with meter installation or completely powering their operations without the use of meters or illicit connections in order to get around regulatory oversight. According to ...