KUANTAN: Residents in Perkampungan Seri Damai Aman experienced power outage twice this year, not knowing that it was due to Bitcoin mining operation in their area.
“The first time was early this year, and the latest, last Monday,“ said Armed Forces Cooperative regional executive officer Mohd Rizwan Mehamadi when met during a raid by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) yesterday.
He said never did he expect that the power disruption was linked to the Bitcoin activity operating behind the cooperative, despite having seen some individuals interfering with the electricity distribution board, with the latest, recently.
“It was only after we lodged a report to TNB that we found out there are Bitcoin premises in this area,“ he added.
TNB conducted raids on 33 premises around Kuantan during the operation on suspicion of interfering with the electricity distribution board in a Bitcoin mining operation, resulting in a loss of RM3.2 million to the utility company.
The Bitcoin miners used high-powered computer networks that used electricity directly from the distribution board, bypassing the meter.
The crypto currency allows individuals to transfer value to one another and pay for goods and services without having to go through banks and mainstream financial systems, but this is not legal in Malaysia. — Bernama
