Chinese police crack down on bitcoin miners over $3m of stolen electricity | World news

Police in eastern China have cracked down on a ring of illicit bitcoin miners who stole nearly $3m (£2.4m) worth of electricity to generate the digital currency, prompting a local power company to tip off investigators, authorities said.

Police in Zhenjiang, in eastern Jiangsu province, said officers confiscated almost 4,000 mining devices from an illicit bitcoin operation that stole nearly 20m yuan in power.

“In value, it is the largest case in the amount of electricity stolen that Jiangsu has cracked since the founding of new China, and a rare sight in the whole country,” Zhenjiang police said in an online statement.

The authorities said they were originally tipped off by a local power company, which reported abnormal electricity usage.

Police have taken “compulsory measures” against more than 20 criminal suspects, and the case is under investigation.

Cryptocurrencies are an alternative way of making payments to cash or credit cards. The technology behind it allows the…