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China Bitcoin

Hundreds of Banned Crypto Miners Were Siphoning Power at China's State Firms (bloomberg.com) 42

China's drive to root out cryptocurrencies has uncovered hundreds of miners who were using electricity at public institutions, a development that comes as the nation struggles with a power crunch. From a report: Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces recently started targeting miners who were consuming the resources of state-owned enterprises, government agencies, and universities and research institutes, according to a government statement and media reports that did not name the entities. Jiangsu found about one-fifth of some 4,500 internet protocol addresses associated with illegal mining activity belonged to public institutions, according to the media outlet The Paper, which cited provincial communications authorities. Some 260,000 kilowatt hours of electricity were being used per day, the newspaper added. Cryptominers typically link their equipment to cloud services called mining pools to verify transactions on blockchains, allowing their physical locations to be traced. That would lead investigators to accounts with electric companies.

The Zhejiang government published a statement on an official social account that included photos of equipment seized in raids, adding that 184 IP addresses were suspected of involvement in illegal mining exploiting public resources. "The rapid upgrading of mining hardware and fierce competition in computing power have resulted in massive energy usage, which is contrary to the carbon peak and carbon neutralization goals of the whole province as a major energy importer," the statement said.

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Hundreds of Banned Crypto Miners Were Siphoning Power at China's State Firms

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  • they have public IPV4's directy linked?
    They should just hack them and shut them down remotely

  • this is like 5 or so miners running 24hrs... is this worth a headline from the other side of the world?
    • "260,000 kilowatt hours of electricity were being used per day", or roughly 10 kilowatts, is more than 5 machines. A home in the USA typically uses roughly 10 kilowatt hours. So that's enough to power more than 25 homes in the USA, more than that in china. Yes, it's interesting, especially as more and more cryptominers are stealing electricity and as China is discussing banning cryptocurrency outright. These cases affect China's politics, and the price of Bitcoin worldwide in turn.

  • by Ostracus ( 1354233 ) on Friday October 15, 2021 @10:46AM (#61894875) Journal

    Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces recently started targeting miners who were consuming the resources of state-owned enterprises, government agencies, and universities and research institutes, according to a government statement and media reports that did not name the entities.

    Nothing like saying "viable currency" by externalizing the costs onto society.

    • Don't judge them. geekmux says your tut-tutting about people stealing power is a greater danger to society than people actually stealing power.
    • Great news! That's an illegal activity and should be eradicated! It only makes us forex traders and bitcoin owners look bad, if anyone here is interested in the topic please check Fxcess's website [fxcess.com], there you will find great information to get started in this business, I can guarantee that you'll be back here to thank me!
  • In the UK, they arrested some guys stealing electricity for crypto mining. In some other country, they took their computers, over 100, and took a steam roller to flatten them.

    In China, I wouldn't be surprised if they made you join those computers.
    • Not for this crime. Generally it's "a life for a life". We may see this as crude but hyperbole doesn't help. These people will get fines, lose jobs, and get jail time. Generally the last means the second is guaranteed anyways.

      Also people who "let it happen" even without knowing about it because they are in a leadership role, also could get punishment.

  • Not sure if it will go to zero in a year, or maybe ten or twenty years, but I see no long term value proposition in all these crypto coins. Over time it is entirely a bigger fool and money laundering proposition. Eventually the fools will run out, and regulation/oversight will catch up and it will be game over. Those holding the bag in their 401k's will tell tales of woe. People will be in a daze as to how they couldn't have seen through the HODL evangelists sooner.

Understanding is always the understanding of a smaller problem in relation to a bigger problem. -- P.D. Ouspensky

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