Malaysia's state utility loses $1.1B to illegal crypto mining

Malaysia's state-owned power company, Tenaga Nasional (TNB), has lost 4.6 billion ringgit (approximately $1.11 billion) between 2020 and August this year due to illegal electricity use by cryptocurrency miners, Reuters reported. Citing a written parliamentary response from Malaysia's Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, the report stated that TNB identified 13,827 mining facilities illegally tapping into the power supply during that period. The theft often involved tampering with meters or making unauthorized connections to the grid. In response, the government has launched joint raids with TNB, the police, telecommunications regulators, and the anti-corruption commission to seize Bitcoin mining equipment from these locations.