The number of electricity thefts revealed in Malaysia increased by 300% between 2018 and end-20124, mainly due to the emergence of illegal crypto mining, the star reported on Monday.

The cases were discovered in joint operations that included electricity tools Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the country’s largest, Energy Commission and Police.

“Common operations and nationwide attacks have successfully closed illegal mining setups, which contributes to an increase in discovered cases from 610 in 2018 to 2,397 in 2024,” the tool said in a statement to Star.

Crypto Mining is the process of detecting new blocks, verifying transactions and adding them to blockchain that supports digital assets. The process, especially for proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin, is energy-intensive, providing an incentive for unscrupulous miners to steal rather than pay for the electricity they use while harvesting the reward in the form of new tokens to end the process.

The largest jumping in the number occurred after 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the average number of crypto-related cases of electricity theft 2,303 a year, TNB told The Star. The number of public complaints also increased due to increased awareness of how to report the illegal crypto mining that TNB added.

Crypto mining is not prohibited in Malaysia, but anyone who draws with electrical installations is responsible for a fine of 1 million Ringgit ($ 232,720.50) and up to 10 years in prison.

Coindesk reached out to Tenaga Nasional Berhad for a comment.