Crimes related to cryptocurrency mining never stop. Cryptocurrency mining has allowed plenty of criminals to “showcase” their “power” all over the world. The latest arrest, however, comes from Germany.
In the city of Klingenthal, Saxony, a group of suspects was arrested by the police, as reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutsch. The suspects have reportedly operated a cryptocurrency mining farm and stole electricity.
The problem with running a mining farm and stealing electricity is the high cost that the action incurs. This group, in particular, through its mining operations, has consumed as much as $250,000 worth of electricity. This amounts to electricity needs of around 30 households. The operation was done through 49 computers.
The group that was arrested included one woman and five men. According to a local news report, more than 60% of the installed computers were loaded with special crypto mining unit with an abnormally high number of GPUs installed – 80.
The crime of mining cryptocurrency to steal electricity has become a regular one. In Ukraine, for example, employees of the National Police were caught mining cryptos at their workplace.
While many criminals do not take the necessary “precautions” while mining their digital coins, some are adept at hiding their crime. A man in Taiwan, for example, hired electricians who rewired the surroundings so that he could escape the electricity metering and the high amount of stolen power.
A 21-year old Russian hacker was also accused of illegally mining Bitcoin, back in 2018.
Energy consumption is a big issue for the creators of most alt coins. The founder of Ethereum, for example, recently pledged to cut the energy consumption needed to mine Ethereum by 99%.