Malaysia's national power company Tenaga Nasional loses over $1 billion due to electricity theft from crypto mining

Jinse Finance reported that Malaysia's Ministry of Energy stated that from 2020 to August this year, the country's state-owned utility company, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), has lost over $1 billion due to illegal electricity usage by cryptocurrency miners. In a written parliamentary reply released by the Ministry of Energy and Water Transformation on November 18 (Tuesday), it was revealed that during this period, Tenaga Nasional (stock code: TENA.KL) discovered 13,827 locations where illegal electricity was used for cryptocurrency mining. The ministry pointed out that illegal electricity usage for cryptocurrency mining (especially bitcoin mining) has caused an economic loss of 4.6 billion ringgit (approximately $1.11 billion), and added that Tenaga Nasional is cooperating with relevant departments to curb electricity theft. Although Malaysia currently has no specific laws regulating cryptocurrency mining, under the Electricity Supply Act, tampering with electricity meters or bypassing meters through illegal wiring is considered illegal. The Ministry of Energy stated that through joint operations with the police, communications regulators, anti-corruption agencies, and other law enforcement departments, Tenaga Nasional has seized multiple bitcoin mining machines at the involved locations.