Subversive Crypto Mining Syndicates Drain $723 Million of Electricity Over Five Years

Malaysia has been besieged by clandestine cryptocurrency mining operatives, who have illicitly siphoned off a staggering $723 million worth of electricity from 2018 to 2023, as revealed by the Deputy Minister for Energy and Water, Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.

During a recent exposition where authorities disposed of 2,022 confiscated items—comprising Bitcoin mining apparatus and electrical gear valued at approximately $467,000—Deputy Minister Nasir highlighted the detrimental impact of these illicit activities on Malaysia’s state-controlled utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, and the local populace in affected regions, as reported by Malay Mail.

The unauthorized miners circumvent official registration with regulatory entities and employ ingenious methods to bypass electricity meters or clandestinely divert power directly from the grid.

“These electricity thefts by cryptocurrency miners occur under the misconception that their activities remain undetectable due to the absence of metering devices on their premises,” Nasir elucidated.

“Nevertheless, energy providers possess sophisticated techniques to identify anomalous energy consumption patterns within specific locales,” he added, detailing how Malaysian authorities successfully seized over 2,000 items in an October 2022 operation.

While cryptocurrency mining per se is not prohibited in Malaysia, the unauthorized expropriation of electricity for mining activities is unequivocally illegal, as affirmed by Malaysia’s Universiti Teknologi MARA in December 2022.

Since August 2019, Malaysian officials have been actively confiscating cryptocurrency mining equipment in adherence to the nation’s criminal procedure statutes. In some instances, these machines are destroyed, with steamrollers used to crush the equipment.

Deputy Minister Nasir underscored that eradicating illegal crypto miners is a priority for his ministry, alongside efforts to augment Malaysia’s renewable energy sources.

Malaysia Intensifies Scrutiny on Unregistered Crypto Exchanges

In a related crackdown, Malaysia’s Securities Commission mandated the cessation of operations of the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global in May of the previous year for failing to register its trading services.

Currently, only HATA Digital, Luno, SINEGY, MX Global, Tokenize Technology, and Torum International are authorized cryptocurrency trading platforms within Malaysia.