- Thai authorities linked illegal Bitcoin mining to power outages in Ratchaburi, leading to a raid but no arrests.
- Southeast Asia faces increasing issues with illegal Bitcoin mining, driven by low electricity costs.
- Thailand’s regulatory challenges in managing cryptocurrency activities underscore the need for stricter enforcement and monitoring.
Thai authorities conducted a raid on an illegal Bitcoin mining operation in Ratchaburi, a town west of Bangkok, after residents reported ongoing power outages. According to the South China Morning Post the raid, carried out on August 23, followed weeks of complaints from locals about unexplained electricity failures.
Authorities Link Power Outages to Mining Operation
The investigation began in mid-July when residents noticed persistent blackouts. Officials from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) and local police identified a house in Ratchaburi as the source of the problem. They discovered that the property was consuming unusually high amounts of electricity, yet the payments made for that power were suspiciously low. This discrepancy indicated that the operators were stealing electricity to fuel their Bitcoin mining activities.
The power outages started during the time that the house had already been under the lease by a company for a period of four months. Upon inspection, however, it was found by the authorities that most of the mining machines had already been taken before their arrival, implying that the operators left the site in order to escape. Even with the facts at hand, however, there were no detentions within the course of the operation, nor is the inquiry finished.
The Increase Of Illegal Bitcoin Mining in Southeast Asia.
Criminal activities related to Bitcoin mining, specifically uncontrolled operations have become common in Southeast Asia, where shrewd operators have taken advantage of energy arbitrage within the region and ignored energy costs. Malaysia has lost illegal mining activities worth $723 million of electricity within the last five years as per report by the authorities. In response, Malaysian officials have made it a point to take extreme steps such as killing mining rigs that have been seized.
Problems In Regulating Hodler Cryptocurrency Mining
In Thailand though most activity regarding cryptocurrency is permitted, this activity is plagued by ineffective regulation of the Thai government. This incident in Ratchaburi also illustrates why more action towards regulatory enforcement and regulatory monitoring is warranted. There are laws designed to shield investors/intermediaries and support financial order in the Thai system but the increase in illegal mining activities puts a question mark on the control measures in place.
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