The secret to mining bitcoin (BTC) for free: and ending up in jail

By: Bharggavi Ssayee

September 1, 2021 2:34 AM

Spain on the hunt for illegal miners - Bitcoin mining (BTC) is both controversial, because of its energy needs, but also very profitable. It has become the favorite playground of criminals, who do not hesitate to tarnish the image of the cryptosphere. To remedy this, the Spanish authorities have redoubled their efforts to put an end to the activities of an illegal BTC farm.

Illegal BTC mining on the rise

While bitcoin mining is not an illegal activity per se, it becomes illegal when it leads to the illegal hijacking of power grids. The goal for these miners is naturally to reduce energy costs.

Indeed, when we are interested in the formula for calculating the cost of mining BTC, we can easily understand that by removing the variable of the cost of electricity, the mining activity is transformed into a real blessing for the one. who manages to take advantage of it.

In July 2021, it was in Ukraine that the police dismantled a mining farm made up of nearly 9,000 computer processors (graphics cards and video game consoles). The mining farm reduced its costs by thousands of euros each month, by diverting electricity and tampering with electricity meters.

Another example mentioned in the introduction, in the United Kingdom, when the police thought they had discovered an illegal cultivation of cannabis, they got their hands on an intensive Bitcoin mining farm. Finally, Iran has also dismantled some fifty illegal mining sites on its territory.

Spain is no exception to the authorities

This August, it was in Toledo, Spain, that the national police dismantled a cryptocurrency mining farm, whose equipment was illegally connected to the region's electricity grid.

According to the statement of the Spanish National Police on August 20, on Twitter:

“We have dismantled an illegal cryptocurrency mining farm in a villa in Toledo. It had more than a hundred working processors and cooling, smoke and heat extraction equipment. The farm operated thanks to an illegal connection to the electrical system. "

As in the UK, law enforcement has been alerted to the unusual and repeated heat emissions and excessive electricity consumption by this villa. Before proceeding with the search, the Spanish intervention brigade believed to dismantle a cannabis traffic because of similar thermal readings. According to quick estimates from the authorities, this mining farm has generated thousands of euros in lost revenue for the electric utility.

This latest seizure in Spain may be the start of a long series, in a country where electricity prices hit their highest this summer. Although BTC mining is now formally rejected only in China - to the delight of North America - it would not be surprising to see other countries severely regulating this activity, if these fraudulent uses were to come to the fore. generalize.