Metro worker upholds tradition by mining Bitcoin with stolen electricity, quits

A metro worker in Russia has resigned after illegally installing Bitcoin mining gear in a city subway substation.

A subway engineer in Kazan, Russia quit last week after authorities discovered them mining Bitcoin with stolen Metro electricity.

Their resignation came just one day after a government committee announced an investigation into energy theft from Kazan Metro worth 352,000 rubles ($4,700), reports Finbold.

Along with a colleague, the Metro worker illegally installed Bitcoin mining gear in a substation belonging to MUP Metroelectrotrans, the firm that runs the city’s subway.

No word on how much Bitcoin the pair actually mined — if any.

First get the power… then you mine Bitcoin

Mining Bitcoin with pilfered electricity is now a familiar story in Russia. In fact, some have built their own ad-hoc stations to efficiently siphon from the grid.

Last year, estimates suggested outlaw miners had cost local electricity companies around 450 million rubles ($6.6 million) in the past three years.

In one instance, a 30-year-old Makhachkala resident connected 500 mining machines to the local power grid, reportedly causing damage totalling 34 million rubles ($494,000).

It’s not just Russia, either. In May, UK police busted what they thought was an illegal cannabis farm, only to find they’d really uncovered 100 illicit crypto mining rigs stealing thousands of dollars in electricity.

These Bitcoin miners in Malaysia had been stealing electricity for over a year.

And this week, Malaysian authorities released a video showing the destruction of over 1,000 Bitcoin rigs seized in police raids linked to $2 million worth of power theft.

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