Malaysian crypto miners stole $722 million worth of power: energy official

Cryptocurrency miners in Malaysia stole at least RM3.4 billion ($722 million) worth of power between 2018 and 2023, the country’s energy official said.

Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, deputy energy transition and water transformation minister, said on Wednesday that the illegal crypto mining activities have become more widespread, local news website Malay Mail reported .

“The theft of electricity by those who mine cryptocurrency occurs because they believe this activity cannot be detected due to the absence of meters on their premises,” the official said. “However, energy supply companies have various methods to detect unusual energy consumption in an area.”

The deputy minister made the comment at an event where the government collectively disposed of 2,022 seized items worth RM2.2 million, including bitcoin mining rigs the authorities seized in October 2022.

The official added that prioritizing the combat against electricity theft is a key focus for his ministry, along with boosting the generation of green and renewable energy, according to the report.

Crypto mining operations have increasingly moved from China — which banned all crypto mining activities in 2021 — to the U.S. and other places including Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand, Bloomberg reported last month. The Southeast Asian nations are attractive for miners given their competitive electricity prices, skilled labor and existing infrastructure, a local miner told Bloomberg. 

Many Bitcoin mining firms have tried to expand revenues and mining capacities since April’s bitcoin halving , which reduced miner rewards by 50%.

Cambridge University data showed that in January 2022, the U.S. accounted for 37.8% of the global hashrate share — which refers to the level of computing power required to mine — making it the world’s largest bitcoin producer. Malaysia controlled about 2.5% of the global share, ranking it among the top 10 nations for bitcoin production.