Bitcoin Heist: 600 Powerful Computers Stolen in Iceland The computers, which have not yet been found, are worth almost $2 million.
Some 600 computers used to "mine" bitcoin and
other virtual currencies have been stolen from data centers in Iceland
in what police say is the biggest series of thefts ever in the North
Atlantic island nation.
Some 11 people were
arrested, including a security guard, in what Icelandic media have
dubbed the "Big Bitcoin Heist." A judge at the Reykjanes District Court
on Friday ordered two people to remain in custody.
The powerful computers, which have not yet been
found, are worth almost $2 million. But if the stolen equipment is used
for its original purpose — to create new bitcoins — the thieves could
turn a massive profit in an untraceable currency without ever selling
the items.
"This is a grand theft on a scale
unseen before," said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, the police commissioner
on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, where two of the burglaries
took place. "Everything points to this being a highly organized crime."
Three
of four burglaries took place in December and a fourth took place in
January, but authorities did not make the news public earlier in hopes
of tracking down the thieves.
Bitcoin is a kind
of digital money that isn't tied to a bank or a government. It has been
hugely volatile, posting some dizzying intra-day rises and falls over
the past year or so. The price of a single bitcoin rocketed to nearly
$20,000 late last year and then plunged early this year. On Friday, it
was trading just below the $11,000 mark.
Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies rely on the blockchain, the name given to
the public, distributed ledgers which track the coins' ownership. The
Bitcoin ledger is powered by "miners," so-called because they throw
computational power into the system, occasionally receiving — or
"mining" — new bitcoins in return. Drumming up that computational power
usually means lots of computers — and thus lots of electricity.
That
desire for energy has created a gold rush for bitcoin in Iceland.
Traders searching for cheap, renewable energy have been flooding into
the island in recent months to take advantage of its geothermal and
hydroelectric power plants.
Police tracking the stolen computers are monitoring
electric consumption across the country in hopes the thieves will show
their hand, according to an industry source who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media.
Unusually high energy usage might reveal the whereabouts of the illegal bitcoin mine.
Authorities
this week called on local internet providers, electricians and storage
space units to report any unusual requests for power.
In
Edinburgh on Friday, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney launched a
withering attack on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and urged
regulators around the world to monitor them in the same way as other
financial assets.
In a speech to the Scottish
Economics conference, Carney said a "global speculative mania" has
"encouraged a proliferation of new cryptocurrencies" and said they
should be held to the "same standards" as the rest of the financial
system.
"Being part of the financial system brings enormous privileges, but with them great responsibilities," Carney said.
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