The police of China have seized around 4,000 bitcoin mining machines from a bitcoin mining firm. It has been using local electricity for its mining operations. This was directly affecting the electricity usage of local consumers in the region.

The police allege that the firm has stolen nearly 20 million yuan ($3 million) cost of electricity. As per the police, it is one of the largest cases in the history of New China. The investigators suspect that more than 20 people are involved in the mining operation. A local power provider informed the investigators about the theft.

Previously, the Chinese government authorities also spotted many illegal Bitcoin mines setups in hydropower stations. These mines were working without any government approval in the Sichuan region.

It seems that electricity theft is slowly becoming a trend for bitcoin miners. Earlier in June, the Iranian government seized around 1000 bitcoin mining machines due to power issues. Two crypto mining firms were using these machines in some abandoned factory premises in the Yazd province. There has been a spike of 7% in electricity use which was due to the use of high-end systems to mine crypto.