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The authorities in the Chinese province of Hebei seized 52 transformers and nearly 7000 specialized devices for mining bitcoin.
China Central Television reported that police in the Tangshan City District, with the help of the energy department and other government agencies, checked over 70,000 households for energy consumption. In addition to private homes, factories, quarries, retail outlets and communities were tested.
In one of the villages, a private transformer was found that supported the operation of 1,906 ASIC miners. The investigation was continued and, as a result, 3 high-power transformers and 790 miners, which operated due to stolen electricity, were seized.
The final result of the audit was the seizure of 52 transformers and 6,890 ASIC miners. Authorities said that in the future they will more often conduct such raids, the purpose of which is to eradicate the theft of electricity. Most often, the police receive information from the power plants themselves, which notice a violation of consumption at their sites.
Although the Chinese authorities have banned the exchange of cryptocurrencies at the legislative level, mining in the country is in the “gray zone” and is not formally prohibited. Moreover, recently this type of activity was removed from the list of undesirables. The authorities are primarily trying to stop the operation of illegal farms that steal electricity.
