Over 1,000 Crypto Mining Rigs destroyed in Sarawak

Malaysian authorities recently destroyed 1,069 crypto mining rigs in Sarawak, by crushing them with a steamroller.

These rigs were confiscated between February and April this year. Its owners were accused of stealing electricity for their mining activities by Sarawak Energy Berhad, the province’s electric utilities company. The utility firm alleged the miners of stealing energy worth over RM8.4 million (US$2 million).

The widespread theft of energy from these mining operations followed by the unsafe electric connections used to do it have also cause three houses to catch fire and burn down. Cryptocurrency miners often use heavy duty PCs built especially for mining, and the process consumes a large amount of electricity.

To dispose of the illegal mining rigs it confiscated, Malaysian authorities used a steamroller to crush all RM5.3 million (US$1.26 million) worth of hardware at once.