Thai police closed a Bitcoin The mining operation is estimated to have stolen approximately $3 million worth of electricity.

Officials estimate that the operation, which took place in the Phanat Nikhom district of Chonburi in eastern Thailand, involved more than 1,000 machines.

According to what was reported by the English-language Thai News Agency Nation, Although authorities were unable to provide an exact figure for the theft, it was likely worth "hundreds of millions of baht". One hundred million baht is worth about $2.9 million at the time of writing.

The miners reportedly tampered with the local electricity authority's power meter to divert power to their equipment. Nation It was reported that an anonymous employee at the site told the police that the theft of electricity occurred only at night, with the power meter being used properly during the day to avoid detection.

Thailand's Crime Control Department (CSD), along with the PEA, seized 996 bitcoin mining machines and other hardware from the site. The Department of Sustainable Development said it had not yet identified the company or individuals responsible for the operation, but would seek judicial orders to arrest them.

This news comes on the heels of several other cases in which Bitcoin miners engaged in large-scale electricity theft in the country. In May, Thai police raided another illegal Bitcoin mining operation in the city of Samut Sakhon. Equipment worth 69 million pounds was confiscated.

In October, Bitcoin miners (Tha Muang district of Bangkok). It was closed after electricity meters were tampered with to show false readings and millions of pounds of electricity were stolen. In november, Nine illegal Bitcoin mining farms In southern Thailand, they were dismantled for stealing more than 270,000 euros ($278,000) worth of electricity.

Despite numerous cases of serious electricity theft, Thailand remains a relatively small player in the global Bitcoin mining industry. Cambridge University's Judge Business School estimated this in 2022 Thailand accounts for only 0.97% of the world's Bitcoin production. It lags far behind major players such as Kazakhstan, Russia and the United States.

This type of electricity theft is also widespread in other parts of Southeast Asia. A Malaysian government official values ​​his country It lost up to $754 million (RM3.4 billion) due to Bitcoin miners draining its electricity supply from 2018 to 2023.

Cases of this type of theft occur in the West as well.

In 2021, A British man has been jailed After £32,000 ($44,000) worth of Bitcoin mining electricity was stolen at two sites in Leicestershire.

Modified by Stacey Elliott.