Rogue crypto miners are jacking electricity, risking fires, and disappearing – all for a shot at digital profit.
A hidden crypto mining operation taking place across three houses, which drained over $327,000 of electricity from the energy grid, has been raided in Pathum Thani province, Thailand.
Sixty-three unmanned mining machines were discovered in the setup. The equipment seized, totaling around $60,000, was being controlled remotely by bandits.
The miners were siphoning electricity from the public energy grid, reported The Cool Down.
Locals in the apartment block became suspicious because the power usage was extremely high. This is part of a growing trend of unusual places being chosen as mining locations.
These kinds of operations cost power companies astronomical amounts, and also run the risk of fires happening in neighbourhoods like the one in Pathum Thani.
Inside the mining process
Crypto mining is a complex process in which computers solve a series of math problems to validate transactions. It requires an enormous amount of power, and it’s akin to digging for digital gold.
Whoever cracks the code first usually receives a reward in the form of a digital coin, such as bitcoin.
Because it’s largely deregulated, bad actors can take advantage by setting up rogue operations that steal electricity from the public grid and then vanish without a trace.
Crypto’s hunger for energy isn’t only fueling crime in Thailand, though. There have also been cases in the UK, Malaysia, and Russia, to name but three places.
Overloaded circuits from multiple computers pose fire risks in the local communities, as shown by a substation fire that happened in 2024, in Dagestan, Russia.
Crypto ops gone underground
It’s not just abandoned houses that crypto criminals mine in. In New York, old factories have been repurposed into crypto mining farms, sometimes illegally leveraging hydroelectric power sources.
In Cohasset, Massachusetts, a former town employee was charged with setting up a secret crypto mining operation in a school crawl space. The illicit setup involved electrical wires, temporary ductwork, and numerous computers connected to the school's electrical system.
Shipping containers have also been repurposed into mobile crypto units. They are easily transportable to locations with cheap electricity and are apt to avoid detection by authorities.
Polluting for profit
It’s unregulated crypto that acts as the climate wildcard in many of these cases. The gargantuan amounts of stolen energy, often from coal-heavy grids, mostly goes unaccounted for.
While many cryptocurrencies are supposed to be forward-thinking as far as the environment goes, this breakneck environment is harnessing dirty and outdated power sources, going against the ethical grain.
However, these raids on abandoned buildings are exceptional cases.
Push for clean coins
Currently, the Crypto Climate Accord is pushing for the decarbonization of crypto to transition the whole blockchain ecosystem by 2030. This international coalition should help in raising awareness against outdated power consumption and rogue mining.
For example, ethereum, one of the largest blockchain networks, has reduced its power consumption by a huge 99% by switching from proof-of-work to a far more efficient proof-of-stake system.
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