- Electricity theft tied to illegal crypto mining in Malaysia has surged nearly 300% since 2018, according to Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
- Authorities have dismantled hundreds of unauthorized mining operations, with some property owners facing electricity bills as high as $278,400.
- Malaysia has implemented “smart meters” and increased crackdowns to protect the power grid and penalize tampering, as outlined by local media and official releases.
Malaysia’s main electric utility, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), reported a sharp rise in electricity theft cases stemming from unauthorized cryptocurrency mining. The number of incidents has grown from 610 in 2018 to 2,397 reported for 2024, as TNB stated in a release on Monday.
Officials credit the jump to the illegal siphoning of subsidized electricity by miners who tamper with or bypass meters. These activities have imposed estimated losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars and put additional strain on Malaysia’s national grid, according to TNB.
The surge in incident reports is partly due to greater public awareness and increased willingness to report illegal crypto mining, TNB told local outlets. Authorities across the country, working together with regulators and anti-corruption officers, have raided and shut down many underground mining sites. TNB emphasized that these actions have stabilized the power supply and protected infrastructure.
Some Malaysian property owners have faced steep penalties after discovering their premises were converted into covert mining farms. In several publicized cases, tenants illegally installed rigs, leaving landlords with electric bills as high as $278,400. Reference to these events was confirmed by TNB and reported in local news. Mining rigs can use between 1,000 and 8,000 watts of power, according to a 2024 study from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
To address the issue, TNB has rolled out more “smart meters,” which use radio signals to track electricity consumption in real time. The utility provider says this system helps spot abnormal usage rapidly. TNB has also called for tougher enforcement of Malaysia’s Electricity Supply Act, imposing fines up to $212,000 or prison sentences of up to 10 years for tampering offenses.
Malaysia’s relatively low electricity prices—estimated at around $0.052 per kilowatt-hour as of December 2024 (CEIC Data)—have made it a hotspot for unauthorized mining.
Similar enforcement actions have taken place elsewhere. For example, Kuwaiti authorities recently conducted a major operation against illegal miners, investigating over 1,000 sites and questioning more than 100 people following severe power outages.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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