Virtual currencies have made many investors crazy in love, and many people’s moods have fluctuated between ups and downs. Naturally, there are still people investing in the mining business. However, in order to mine, a large amount of electricity must be invested. Some mine owners will imitate indoor cannabis farms and directly steal electricity to operate. The Spanish police recently received a report that someone was stealing a large amount of electricity. After breaking in with the expectation that it might be a drug den, they saw only the buzzing of mining machines all over the room. Although it fell short of expectations, at least the electricity thief was discovered and mining equipment worth 50,000 euros was confiscated:
▲There is a huge difference between the cracking of a drug den and the cracking of a cryptocurrency mine. The former usually at least appears in the headlines, while the latter is a legal business in Spain (Image source）
Many countries have varying degrees of regulations on virtual currency mining. In Spain, mining is a legal business. However, electricity theft is criminally punishable no matter which country it is in. The mine owner’s electricity theft aroused the police’s suspicion that there might be a marijuana cultivation farm hidden in the house, so he mobilized the police to break in. Although no drugs were found, at least the culprit of the electricity theft was identified.
According to local media reports in Spain, the country’s police in Sevia found a suspicious house that had stolen public electricity and installed air conditioning and ventilation devices. It was suspected that it might be a cannabis farm. Considering that growing cannabis indoors usually requires a lot of electricity to supply lights and water supply systems. In addition, the thermal imaging camera confirmed that there were signs of hot air exhausting there. Therefore, he was targeted by the police:
▲He is both an electricity thief and a house that emits bursts of heat. Naturally, he thinks of marijuana, but in the end he finds a bunch of mining machines (Image source）
However, after breaking in, I did not see any dangerous plants growing indoors. Instead, I saw many mining machines in operation. The police later seized these mining machines and obtained a total of 22 mining machines, most of which were ASIC mining machines, and there was also a RIG mining machine using many RTX 3080-level graphics cards. From the video provided by the police, it is obvious that the graphics card also has the EVGA trademark and graphics card model.
The Spanish police announced that this operation seized mining equipment worth 50,000 euros (approximately NT$1.552 million). It is said that all ASIC mining machines in this mine can generate an estimated monthly income of 2,500 euros (approximately NT$77,602), while the RIG mining machines are estimated to generate 1,000 euros (approximately NT$31,040) per month. Yuan) income:
▲Although the lens only flashes by, it is obvious that one of them is equipped with many RTX 30 series graphics cards produced by EVGA (Image source）
Of course, the reason why these profits are so high is because the mine owners pass on the electricity expenses through electricity theft. Last year, the European Union set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030. This policy caused natural gas stocks to bottom out soon. Therefore, Spain also increased electricity prices, with the highest price per 1,000 kilowatt-hours reaching 154 euros (approximately NT$4,780). If the mine owner does not engage in tricks on the power system and pays the electricity bill obediently, I believe that the revenue from the mining machine may not be able to amortize costs such as electricity bill and mining machine purchase:
▲You still want to make money from mining when the electricity bill is so expensive? That’s probably the reason for stealing electricity (Image source）
The arrested owner of the mine confessed that it was still in the early stages of operation and that the police confiscated his house before the money he invested in the mining machine was recovered. Coupled with being prosecuted for stealing electricity, I believe there will be an astonishing fine waiting for him. Although there is one less mine owner and there are still thousands of mines in operation, this news still makes many players who have been waiting for graphics cards feel a little more comfortable.
Source: KOCPC Chinese