Thieves Steal 600 Computers Used To Mine Bitcoin
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
Authorities in Iceland are working on what might be one of the biggest bitcoin thefts ever.
Approximately 600 computers used to mine bitcoin were stolen in December and January. Three of the heists were in December with a 4th in January. 11 people were arrested so far.
This is being termed "Big Bitcoin Heist".
Authorites kept the robberies under wraps since they occurred while they conducted their investigations.
The value of the computers were around $2 million. What is unknown is how many bitcoins were involved.
Bitcoin mining is very popular in the tiny nation located in the North Atlantic. Energy costs are low with plenty of renewable energy available. The cold weather assists in keeping GPUs cool which further can reduce the cost of mining.
Although expensive, mining hardware must be kept cool so as to prevent overheating. Utilising Icelands natural elements, the exteriors of mining facilities are deliberately only partially constructed; providing huge financial savings. -cryptocoinspy.com
Non-adapted content found at zerohedge.com: Source
Stealing miners still means you have to pay electricity when you do mine... maybe they were trying to steal a wayward private key?
Agree, may better off resale then mining and paying for electricity. :|
Costs to mine bitcoin are going up now due to security concerns
When it comes to bitcoin, scams and thievery is getting out of control. It would seem anyone with a large coin holding is a target these days. I would highly advise not letting anyone know how much coin you hold as you may become a target on some scammer or thieves radar.
Haha, that’s crazy stuff. They still have to do the “hard” work if the stolen equipment is used for its original purpose to create new bitcoins, however the thieves could turn a massive profit in an untraceable currency without ever selling the stolen items. That’s the new generation of bank robbers instead they are called mine robbers. I guess the only way they can get caught is for police track unusually high energy usage which might reveal the whereabouts of the illegal bitcoin mine. However, that would be taugh since they can spread it in to multiple locations, unless someone starts talking.
This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before,said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson,
the police commissioner on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula,
where two of the burglaries took place.
Everything points to this being a highly organized crime.
600 machines stripped all all accessories would easily fit into a single smallish shipping container, and be on a plane or on a freighter all in a single evening. These are history, and short of somehow locating them internationally by their MAC addresses (the owner has their MAC addresses, right?), they are gone.
Nothing is off limits to thieves, protect what's yours by any means necessary.
Wow, this is a crazy story! @zer0hedge you always report on the best stories, I really like your posts. Keep up the great work!
Damn! The problem of that theft is that the computational process is huge which can create a lot of money from the thieves. The only thing that they need is plug it in a electric wire and config the rigs.
Being new to crypto - this story is just incredible to me. The whole idea of building cold buildings and packing rooms full of computers is not anything I ever thought was happening. It made me finally (sort of) understand what mining means though.
I really like Iceland for the no nonsense way of handling the issue though. I already know they dealt with their banking criminals better than in the us.
Go Iceland! Take advantage of your resources and kick butt.