Malaysian Police Raid 45-Machine Bitcoin Mining Rig With $8,000 Monthly Turnover
Malaysian police have busted another illegal Bitcoin mining operation, this time in the Hulu Terengganu and Marang districts in the northeast of the country.
According to local news outlet Malay Mail , 45 Bitcoin mining machines worth approximately US$52,145 (RM225,000) and other equipment were confiscated in raids at two different premises.
Terengganu police chief Datuk Mohd Khairy Khairuddin estimated that the power theft cost Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia's sole power company, about $8,342 (RM36,000) in monthly losses.
Mohd Khairy said in a statement that the syndicates involved in illegal mining were believed to have been operating from residential and commercial premises, misusing electricity from the local grid.
The operation was carried out jointly with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) Special Engagement Against Losses (SEAL) unit. The police chief said no arrests were made during the riot control operation itself, but all items seized were forwarded to the relevant district police headquarters for further investigation.
Bitcoin mining is legal in Malaysia. However, tampering with the power grid can result in up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to US$21,500 (RM100,000).
Illegal Bitcoin Mining Blights Southeast Asia
Illegal Bitcoin mining, which drains energy from national grids, is becoming a growing problem in East and Southeast Asia.
A 2025 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) highlighted that international criminal groups operating in the region are interested in Bitcoin mining because it allows them to circumvent anti-money laundering laws compared to more traditional forms of criminal activity. A Bloomberg report last year suggested that China’s decision to ban Bitcoin mining in 2021 may have contributed to the spread of this type of illicit activity to Southeast Asia.
This trend has already had real consequences in Malaysia. In February this year, an explosion in the city of Bandar Puncak Alam exposed nine illegal Bitcoin mining rigs.
Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, the country's deputy minister for energy transition and water, told Malay Mail in July 2024 that illegal cryptocurrency mining had cost the country $722 million (RM3.4 billion) in electricity costs from 2018 to 2023.
Neighboring Thailand has also seen a number of high-profile cryptocurrency mining prosecutions, including one earlier this year involving 1,000 machines that allegedly resulted in the theft of $3 million from the national power grid.
Source: cryptonews.net
