Illegal bitcoin mine discovered in UK at suspected cannabis farm

Pic Courtesy/WM Police

Drugs police in central England spotted the tell-tale signs of a cannabis farm: visitors at all hours, extensive wiring, ventilation ducts and unusual amounts of heat being generated.

But on closer inspection, they exposed another operation reliant on massive power usage: a cryptocurrency mine that was stealing electricity from the national grid. A raid by West Midlands Police uncovered the illicit operation at an industrial estate northwest of Birmingham.

"It's certainly not what we were expecting," Sergeant Jennifer Griffin said. "It had all the hallmarks of a cannabis cultivation set-up and I believe it's only the second such crypto mine we've encountered in the West Midlands." The site housed around 100 computers and had bypassed electricity meters.

Mining cryptocurrency is a hugely energy-intensive process requiring large amounts of electricity in giant data centres. Bitcoin mining alone uses the same amount of electricity a year as Switzerland does, according to Deutsche Bank analysts.

100
Number of computers found at the site

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