Malaysia's electricity company: Crypto mining theft leads to losses of $1.1 billion! Over 10,000 households caught.

The Malaysian national energy company TNB has revealed a loss of 1.1 billion USD due to electricity theft, capturing more than “ten thousand” illegal power theft mining operations. (Background: Russian trucks are hiding 95 mining rigs to steal electricity for BTC, and illegal “truck mining farms” are spreading.) (Supplementary background: Many landlords in Malaysia have been victims of “electricity theft mining”! Electricity bills exceeding 2 million TWD, selling houses is not enough.) During a time of outflow of liquidity in crypto assets, Malaysia has also announced exaggerated losses due to electricity theft. The Malaysian national energy company (TNB) pointed out that from 2020 to August 2024, the “illegal mining teams” hiding in residential areas have stolen electricity worth 4.57 billion RM, equivalent to about 1.1 billion USD. Electricity theft mining has shifted from sporadic incidents to “industrialization”. According to The Edge Malaysia, thieves often tamper with electric meters or illegally connect lines to bypass metering systems, drawing electricity directly from the main power line. Every time the price of Bitcoin spikes, it encourages more “miners” to convert their residences into mining farms, causing unexpected power outages in communities. TNB describes these actions as “parasitic” to the power grid, with impacts far exceeding individual theft incidents, becoming a systemic risk to national infrastructure. To combat increasingly covert electricity theft methods, TNB has deployed smart meters and established real-time analysis systems to detect anomalies instantly, comparing power consumption curves across regions 24/7. If an industrial-level power consumption appears in a residential area that is inconsistent with the number of residents, the system will send alerts, allowing law enforcement to identify targets in the shortest time. This approach upgrades the past passive model relying on manual meter reading to an active tracking model based on data automation. Landlords who allow electricity theft are held accountable. The Malaysian police and TNB have so far sealed off 13,827 domestic electricity theft locations and have simultaneously established a centralized database to record the identities of landlords and tenants at seized addresses. TNB emphasizes through official statements that landlords who neglect “abnormally high electricity consumption” will face joint liability and credit risks. Industry insiders say that there are many small operators in Malaysia using “electricity theft” for mining, but a considerable proportion of them operate through bribery. If officials want to truly combat illegal electricity theft, they need to reform the relevant officials. Related reports: South Korea's shared mobile power banks have launched mining functions, charging rewards with PIGGY airdrop, tokens have been listed on Binance. Chinese courts ruled that “overseas mining” commercial contracts are invalid! Disrupting financial order and public interest. <Malaysian power company: Crypto mining electricity theft loss of 1.1 billion USD! Over ten thousand residences caught.> This article was first published in BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.