Malaysia Seizes Over 75,000 Crypto Mining Rigs in Power-Theft Crackdown
Malaysian authorities have seized more than 75,000 cryptocurrency mining machines in over 3,000 raids from 2022 to May 2026, with 629 arrests tied to coordinated operations by police, utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad, and local authorities. The crackdown targets electricity theft and meter tampering, not crypto ownership itself: trading and mining are allowed, but mining becomes illegal when it uses unauthorized power connections or lacks required licenses. The Home Ministry is using intelligence and technology to identify hotspots faster. Officials said illegal mining remains attractive because of strong digital asset demand and profits from volatile prices, but those gains do not justify crimes that disrupt the power grid. The campaign follows earlier reports of major power losses linked to illegal mining sites and includes highly publicized destruction of seized rigs.
