<< According to local media reports, the Chinese police seized more than 200 computers that were used to run bitcoin and etherium without paying bills for electricity. >>
According to a report from the Xinhua Public Service, Anhui Province Police confiscated equipment after law enforcement officers were informed of abnormally high energy consumption by the local electricity network operator. Presumably, the suspect named Ma stole more than 150,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a month. During the investigation, police officers found that the electricity meter was turned off to evade paying bills.
Mining of crypto-currencies is a very energy-intensive process. Miners make a profit in the event that the cost of extracted coins exceeds the cost of electricity and computing power.
The accused miner told the police that he bought equipment for mining before he learned that the necessary daily costs for this operation are more than 6,000 yuan ($ 923). The police claim that Ma did not receive a profit in the course of this operation.
Recently, in Tianjin City, the police seized 600 miners after a local power grid operator reported sudden bursts of energy consumption. It is assumed that 6 people participated in this operation.
Despite the government repression of the domestic crypto-currency market, which was once the largest in the world, China is still home to many miners because of relatively cheap labor and electricity. Such control led to the fact that many crypto-currency organizations left China and were founded in Switzerland or in the USA.