More than 200 computers used to mine cryptocurrencies (bitcoin and ethereum) have been seized by police in China's eastern province of Anhui following a complaint by a local electricity grid operator about abnormal use of electricity.
Hansan County police found that the suspect's electricity meter had been short-circuited, which is explained as an attempted robbery. Investigations have revealed that the suspect arrested allegedly stole 150.000 kilowatt hours of electricity over a period of more than a month.
The detainee told police he bought the computers in April in hopes of making money by mining cryptocurrencies. But he found that the daily energy cost was over 6.000 yuan (US $ 927), with the result that when he was arrested he had not yet made any profit.
Bitcoin and ethereum mining are processes that require high power consumption, depending on the high-performance computers. Bitcoin and ethereum are different versions that use blockchain technology, a technology that allows you to record a huge list of transactions in digital currency, without being able to intervene and change it, after each new transaction.
The Chinese government has tightened legislation on bitcoin and other digital cryptocurrencies to curb financial risks in trading and commerce.