Thai authorities have confiscated 996 Bitcoin (BTC) mining rigs in Chon Buri province, accusing operators of illegally siphoning electrical energy to energy the energy-intensive machines.
The raid, carried out on January 8 in Phanat Nikhom district, highlights rising issues over the misuse of public companies for cryptocurrency mining operations. Thai authorities have already carried out a number of raids on properties consuming an unusually great amount of electrical energy.
Police and Crime Suppression Division officers focused JIT Co., an organization registered for buying and selling digital property, after discovering proof of falsified electrical energy meters used to evade electrical energy charges.
Crime Suppression Division Commander Montree Theskhan, who led the operation, mentioned the modified meters allowed the corporate to keep away from substantial electrical energy prices, leading to losses estimated at a whole bunch of million baht for native suppliers.
Regardless of the presence of photo voltaic panels on the property, investigators discovered that they weren’t related to mining gear, requiring immense computing energy to validate crypto transactions.
An official instructed reporters:
The sort of theft not solely prices the financial system tens of millions, but additionally places a pressure on electrical energy provides.”
Authorities famous that the standard month-to-month electrical energy invoice for a Thai family is round 750 baht, in stark distinction to the industrial-scale consumption of the seized rigs.
Bitcoin mining is understood for its excessive vitality consumption. In keeping with research, mining a single Bitcoin in 2023 required round 155,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electrical energy, even with very environment friendly setups.
In Thailand, the place electrical energy prices a median of 4 baht per kWh, mining one bitcoin would equate to 620,000 baht, nicely past a family's common month-to-month electrical energy invoice of 750 baht.
The transaction highlights ongoing challenges for regulators as cryptocurrency mining operations develop globally. The Thai authorities maintains a cautious stance in direction of digital asset actions and officers have harassed the significance of defending public assets from exploitation.
Investigations proceed to evaluate the total extent of the harm and establish different events concerned within the mission.
