Malaysian officials are deploying drones and handheld sensors to crack down on Bitcoin mining operations that steal power from the grid.
Last month, Malaysia established a special committee comprising officials from the Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara Malaysia, and TNB to pursue illicit actors.
Authorities Launch High-Tech Raids as Illegal Miners Steal Massive Power Nationwide.
Over the last five years, officials have identified 14,000 illegal mining operations nationwide, with theft from the national power system accounting for approximately $1.1 billion in damages.
Illegal miners work with amazing sophistication. Many move around regularly, using deserted shop lots, abandoned residences, empty suburban shopfronts, and quiet industrial buildings.
Major abandoned constructions have even been turned into mining factories. One example is ElementX Mall in the Strait of Malacca, which never recovered after the outbreak. Bitcoin miners secretly occupied parts of the building in 2022. The operation finally became public after a TikTok video went viral.
In Sarawak, a mining company had already converted an old logging yard into a large-scale plant. These attempts demonstrate how operators repurpose any space capable of accommodating high-density machines.
Bitcoin mining is lawful if power is obtained correctly and taxes are paid, although some operators avoid these regulations.
That $1.1 billion is enough to provide the basic food needs of nearly 567,000 Malaysians for a full year, according to the US Department of Agriculture, which estimates that the average Malaysian consumer will spend around $1,940 on food in 2023. Alternatively, University Utara Malaysia estimates that it is enough to power around 373,000 average-sized houses in the Asian country for a year.
Regional Crackdowns Intensify as Southeast Asia Targets Cross-Border Mining Networks.
This is not the first time Malaysian officials have issued a crackdown. In May, the number of electrical thefts increased by 300% between 2018 and the end of 2024.
The move is the latest in a series of efforts by authorities to combat illegal mining, including a crackdown in May of this year that shut down about 2,400 enterprises. Among them was the seizure of 45 rigs in the country’s northeast. In February, an explosion at a residence in Bandar Puncak Alam revealed an unlawful operation.
Other Southeast Asian nations have also taken steps to combat illegal mining. This week, Thailand shut down an $8.6 million Bitcoin mining business linked to “Chinese scam networks” that included 3,462 machines spread over six locations. In September, two people were detained in Hong Kong for syphoning electricity from care facilities for the disabled to run cryptocurrency mining machines.
