Malaysia’s fight against electricity theft linked to cryptocurrency mining has intensified, revealing a dramatic surge in illegal activity. Between 2018 and the end of 2024, reported cases skyrocketed by a staggering 300%, reaching 2,397 incidents from an initial 610. This alarming increase is primarily attributed to the growing prevalence of illicit cryptocurrency mining operations.

The surge in detected cases is a direct result of collaborative efforts between Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s largest electricity utility, the Energy Commission, and the police force. Joint operations and nationwide raids have effectively dismantled numerous illegal mining setups, bringing these criminal activities to light. The energy-intensive nature of cryptocurrency mining, particularly for proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin, creates a strong incentive for illegal miners to bypass electricity costs. By stealing power, these individuals aim to maximize profits from newly mined tokens without incurring legitimate energy expenses.

A significant portion of the increase occurred after 2020. From 2020 to 2024, an average of 2,303 crypto-related electricity theft cases were reported annually, underscoring the persistent challenge faced by authorities. This increase is not solely due to heightened enforcement; public awareness campaigns have also played a crucial role. More Malaysians are now reporting suspected illicit mining activities, contributing to the rising number of reported cases.

While cryptocurrency mining itself is not prohibited in Malaysia, tampering with electrical installations carries severe penalties. Individuals found guilty face substantial fines of up to 1 million ringgit (approximately $232,720.50) and potential imprisonment for up to 10 years. The significant increase in detected cases highlights the escalating need for stronger deterrents and continuous collaborative efforts to combat this growing threat to Malaysia’s energy infrastructure and financial stability. The situation underscores the complex relationship between technological advancements, economic incentives, and the challenges of law enforcement in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Best known as the immutable database that runs underneath cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, blockchain is poised to play a critical role in every industry imaginable as businesses seek ways to cash in on the distributed ledger technology’s promise of enabling a “trustless” consensus to validate transactions.

Earnings in the past year

Smart miners need to keep electricity costs to under $0.11 per kilowatt-hour; mining with 4 GPU video cards can net you around $8.00 to $10.00 per day (depending upon the cryptocurrency you choose), or around $250-$300 per month.

Chart shows our earnings in the past year.

Financial transactions are typically guaranteed by a trusted third party (such as PayPal) and blockchain can be used to automate that process, reducing overall costs by cutting out the middleman with autonomous smart contracts acting as trusted intermediaries between parties on the network.

There’s a lot of hype with Cryptos. Why? Because most do not know what they’re investing in and would rather listen to the crowd. What happens then? Prices crash once you’ve bought into it. Taking a loan or using all your life savings can be hugely risky, especially if you do not have the prerequisite knowledge on the tech and the coins. Be informed. Ask the right people. Arm yourself with knowledge before jumping on the hype-wagon. This would significantly reduce your risk and most importantly, position you to invest in the long-term fundamentals of the technology.

There are plenty of opportunities to make lots of money in the crypto market, and you should be patient and wise to acquire the right knowledge before investing. Don’t be the person that invests based on the current hype. Do your research first. If it’s too complex, look for answers. The cryptocurrency community is filled with awesome individuals that can simplify things and help you along the way.

UUntil relatively recently, building blockchain applications has required a complex background in coding, cryptography, mathematics as well as significant resources. But times have changed. Previously unimagined applications, from electronic voting & digitally recorded property assets to regulatory compliance & trading are now actively being developed and deployed faster than ever before. By providing developers with the tools to build decentralized applications, Ethereum is making all of this possible.

What is Ethereum for beginners?

At its simplest, Ethereum is an open software platform based on blockchain technology that enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is a distributed public blockchain network. Although there are some significant technical differences between the two, the most important distinction to note is that Bitcoin and Ethereum differ substantially in purpose and capability. Bitcoin offers one particular application of blockchain technology, a peer to peer electronic cash system that enables online Bitcoin payments. While the Bitcoin blockchain is used to track ownership of digital currency (bitcoins), the Ethereum blockchain focuses on running the programming code of any decentralized application.

If you’re a novice when it comes to cryptocurrency trading, there’s a lot you need to learn if you want to be successful. If you’re new to the financial markets completely, you definitely need to learn the ropes – just to make sure you don’t make any otherwise avoidable mistakes.