Iceland was recently hit with its biggest crime ever as thieves stole 600 computers specifically designed to mine bitcoin, plus 600 graphics cards, 100 processors, 100 power supplies, 100 motherboards and 100 sets of computer memory. All the equipment was believed to be used for Bitcoin mining. This is believed to the largest theft in Iceland’s history.
A gang of thieves orchestrated four rounds of thefts of computers used for Bitcoin mining. Two of the thefts took place on the Reykjanes peninsula.
The police commissioner there, Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, said:
“This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before. Everything points to this being a highly organized crime.”
Three of the burglaries took place in December while the fourth one happened in January. All told, the equipment is worth $2 million. According to The Associated Press 11 people have reportedly been arrested and at least two are still in custody, none of the stolen computers have yet been found by police. One of those detained is a security guard and two of those arrested have been ordered to remain in custody by a judge.
None of the stolen 600 computers have been found yet. Police are asking power companies to report any suspicious electric consumption in order to, hopefully, locate the computers if they’re used to mine for cryptocurrency.
Iceland is a hotspot for cryptocurrency miners, with cheap energy in due to the country’s geothermal and hydroelectric power plant and cold temperatures reduce the need for cooling. This has resulted in an influx of crypto miners moving into the country in order to lower their costs.
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