Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
Authorities in Iceland are working on what might be one of the biggest bitcoin thefts ever.
Approximately 600 computers used to mine bitcoin were stolen in December and January. Three of the heists were in December with a 4th in January. 11 people were arrested so far.
This is being termed "Big Bitcoin Heist".
Authorites kept the robberies under wraps since they occurred while they conducted their investigations.
The value of the computers were around $2 million. What is unknown is how many bitcoins were involved.
Bitcoin mining is very popular in the tiny nation located in the North Atlantic. Energy costs are low with plenty of renewable energy available. The cold weather assists in keeping GPUs cool which further can reduce the cost of mining.
Although expensive, mining hardware must be kept cool so as to prevent overheating. Utilising Icelands natural elements, the exteriors of mining facilities are deliberately only partially constructed; providing huge financial savings. -cryptocoinspy.com
Non-adapted content found at zerohedge.com: Source
Stealing miners still means you have to pay electricity when you do mine... maybe they were trying to steal a wayward private key?
Agree, may better off resale then mining and paying for electricity. :|
Costs to mine bitcoin are going up now due to security concerns
this was an organized crime, that is a lot of weight that was stolen.
another type of crime that I expect to start soon is people going up to atm machines...buying as much bitcoin with fiat as they can possibly take before the atm says no more...then rob the atm machine getting back your money and anything else that was in the atm
When it comes to bitcoin, scams and thievery is getting out of control. It would seem anyone with a large coin holding is a target these days. I would highly advise not letting anyone know how much coin you hold as you may become a target on some scammer or thieves radar.
Haha, that’s crazy stuff. They still have to do the “hard” work if the stolen equipment is used for its original purpose to create new bitcoins, however the thieves could turn a massive profit in an untraceable currency without ever selling the stolen items. That’s the new generation of bank robbers instead they are called mine robbers. I guess the only way they can get caught is for police track unusually high energy usage which might reveal the whereabouts of the illegal bitcoin mine. However, that would be taugh since they can spread it in to multiple locations, unless someone starts talking.
This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before,said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson,
the police commissioner on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula,
where two of the burglaries took place.
Everything points to this being a highly organized crime.
600 machines stripped all all accessories would easily fit into a single smallish shipping container, and be on a plane or on a freighter all in a single evening. These are history, and short of somehow locating them internationally by their MAC addresses (the owner has their MAC addresses, right?), they are gone.
Nothing is off limits to thieves, protect what's yours by any means necessary.
Wow, this is a crazy story! @zer0hedge you always report on the best stories, I really like your posts. Keep up the great work!
Good
Police plan to trace the stolen computers by looking at places where unusual electricity consumption is going to take place. For bitcoin production, it is necessary to consume electricity in very serious quantities. In fact, the electricity consumed for Bitcoin mining in the past year has reached a level higher than the annual needs of 159 countries.
every crime must be punished according to the rules ...
maybe the thief wants to mine bitcoin too ..
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Being new to crypto - this story is just incredible to me. The whole idea of building cold buildings and packing rooms full of computers is not anything I ever thought was happening. It made me finally (sort of) understand what mining means though.
I really like Iceland for the no nonsense way of handling the issue though. I already know they dealt with their banking criminals better than in the us.
Go Iceland! Take advantage of your resources and kick butt.
well information in bitcoin.... thanks for shareing....
This robbery is quite unique . Thanks to cryptocurrencies , our computers have become bank . We have to be careful with our devices . Atleast cryptos have shifted some amount of dangerous crimes like murdering , kidnapping to computer theft . I have heard that crime syndicate in russia are more interested in stealing cryptos than other crimes . We got to be extremely careful while dealing with cryptos . We should not reveal to others that we deal in cryptos , we trade in cryptos etc . As with other asstes we should take preventive measures while stoing our cryptos . Be safe , trade safe .
I remember the La Casa De Papel. Maybe they could find more money by occupying the mining place instead of stealing equipment. Joking aside, it is sad to hear this.
This heist was absurd for the whole cryptocurrency market in general.. I believe it played a part in the dip that recently befell the market, I wonder how the robbers bypass a world class security system. This definately won't be the last heist.. Bitcoin already is highly valuable which will continue making it a big target for professional robbers. A high security system needs to be invested in various cryptocurrencies to totally shut out any possibilities of any other theft.. otherwise their are various ways cryptocurrencies will be stolen hacking inclusive.
Damn! The problem of that theft is that the computational process is huge which can create a lot of money from the thieves. The only thing that they need is plug it in a electric wire and config the rigs.
Hehehe....I hope these thieves are bright enough to use this opportunity. Yes, they stole the computers but the result may be useless if they don't know the treasure they are caring.
Bitcoin mining is a very profitable business and everyone is ready to do his possible ways to join the mining network. I believe the same invested will bring more since the expected revenue will overflow the 2 million dollars.
There may be a possibility of capturing these thieves and may be if cought they will have to pay for their acts.lol
That's quite a lot of money, looks like many bitcoin crimes are emerging which has greatly affected the prices of the btc in general. this is about the fourth time am reading about btc crimes. Since most of these things ain't kept over by a public eye it's quite easy for such theft to occur.
Otherwise.
This is such a suitable place for mining then, it tries to solve all the major draw backs of mining bitcoin using machines.
Very suspicious the timing when the crime occurred, don't you think?
Since you can´t hack BTC or any other coin that is decentralized, I guess this is the way that thieves found to make some robberies in the crypto world. Personally I think it was a organized scheme, and maybe, who knows, from some haters of crypto.
Damn, 600 computer are not an easy task. These guys had the time and the man power to pull this off. Unlike the digital hacks online, this thing is fairly hard to go unnoticed. Everything crypto related is gaining all kinds of attention for better or worse.
Its very interesting and informative It would make sense that PayPal would do this, as they were one of the early mover with online transactions I think this would be huge for cryptocurrencies thanks for sharing
The powerful computers, which have not yet been found, are worth almost $2 million. But if the stolen equipment is used for its original purpose -- to create new bitcoins -- the thieves could turn a massive profit in an untraceable currency without ever selling the items. Three of four burglaries took place in December and a fourth took place in January, but authorities did not make the news public earlier in hopes of tracking down the thieves. Police tracking the stolen computers are monitoring electric consumption across the country in hopes the thieves will show their hand, according to an industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media. Unusually high energy usage might reveal the whereabouts of the illegal bitcoin mine. Authorities this week called on local internet providers, electricians and storage space units to report any unusual requests for power.