Dec 15, 2025 18:30:00

Power companies lose over 170 billion yen due to 'power theft' caused by illegal cryptocurrency mining

To prevent electricity prices from rising, Malaysia's state-owned electricity company

, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), is cracking down on illegal cryptocurrency mining, which it says has cost the country 4.57 billion ringgits (approximately $1.7 billion) in lost electricity over the past five years.

Malaysia's Tenaga Nasional incurs losses of more than $1 billion from crypto power theft | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/malaysias-tenaga-nasional-incurs-losses-more-than-1-billion-crypto-power-theft-2025-11-19/

Malaysia uncovers $1 billion in power theft losses from illegal crypto mining | The Block

https://www.theblock.co/post/379443/malaysia-power-theft-crypto-mining

In Malaysia, there are no laws regulating cryptocurrency mining itself, but the Electricity Supply Act prohibits meter tampering and the use of circumvention methods.

TNB said it identified 130,827 facilities using illegal means to mine Bitcoin and other virtual currencies between 2020 and August 2025. The losses incurred by this illegal mining amounted to RM4.57 billion.

According to the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Resources Transition, TNB seized the illegal mining equipment in a joint operation involving the ministry, police, the telecommunications regulator and anti-bribery authorities.

To tackle the problem of illegal mining, TNB has established a database to keep a complete record of owners and users of facilities suspected of being involved in mining-related electricity theft.

The number of detected cases of illegal mining was 610 in 2018, but has increased sharply since 2020, quadrupling to 2,397 by 2024.