The Chinese law enforcement cracked down on a Bitcoin mining farm in Bengbu, Anhui province, for illegally allocating a local electric power company's energy source for Bitcoin mining operations. The local police of Bengbu seized ASIC miners and other equipment used to mine the digital currency.
Xin’an Evening, a local news publication in China, revealed earlier this month that a family in the Anhui province used home energy sources provided by a local electricity service provider to mine Bitcoin.
The digital currency which the family obtained was used to finance the family’s expenditures. The news publication further noted that the family made enough money through its mining farm to finance up to 8 years of their future expenditure.
Follow the cable
Bengbu Tianhu Power Company received various reports of surging line loss rate at a local community of residents. Usually, the power company experiences a loss rate of around 5% but since May it surged to 97%.
After the company discovered an unusual increase in their loss rate, the firm conducted a formal investigation to look into the local community’s increased spending on electricity. The investigation led by inspectors and the Bengbu police revealed that an unknown white cable was connected to a starter box located in the main building of the village.
The inspectors and police followed the cable down to the basement and eventually discovered a room full of Bitcoin mining equipment such as ASIC miners and cooling technologies.
The family is arrested
As soon as the inspectors revealed that a local family was stealing electricity from the village and from the Bengbu Tianhu Power Company, the police arrested the family and seized all the mining equipment located within the facility.
8BTC, a Chinese Bitcoin publication, also noted that in 2016, three Bitcoin mining sites were cracked down on and 74 miners remain detained. The recent arrest of a local family in the Anhui province brings the total to four illegal mining sites and 77 miners detained in the year to date.
Although it is still unclear whether the family will be ordered to compensate for the losses of the power company, it is said that the firm lost around $26,000 as a result of the Bitcoin mining site’s illicit usage of electricity.
Each ASIC miner in the illegal Bitcoin mining site consumed 51 KW an hour and the entire operation consumed 1224 KW total. After various expenses including the cost of mining equipment, the family secured a profit of over $27,000 in the past six months.