Malaysian officials arrested a 28-year-old suspect on charges of allegedly mining for illicit cryptocurrencies, according to a Sunday (January 2) report by Micky.
Police have identified 30 mining stations using electricity stolen from the grid. The stolen electricity was valued at 2 million ringgit ($ 478,000) and the operation involved the theft of electricity worth $ 102,239.
While crypto mining is not illegal in Malaysia, power theft carries heavy penalties, and interference with power lines is punishable by a $ 23,700 fine and a five-year prison sentence.
The commander in Perak state, where the suspect was arrested, said they are still trying to identify who is behind the mining and how long it has been going on.
In addition, the commander said that 1,720 bitcoin mining equipment, 15 monitors, 22 CPUs, 16 keyboards, 56 modems and numerous fans and television cameras had been stolen.
Malaysia reportedly produces about 4.5% of the world's mining power, according to figures from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign in South Korea will take bitcoin, ethereum and three other cryptocurrencies as payments, according to a UToday report on Sunday (January 2).
The three additional cryptocurrencies have yet to be decided, but will be chosen at a future date by its election committee.
This month, Lee's campaign will begin receiving contributions from those who want to pay in crypto, which will be converted to cash with the help of a local exchange. Lee's campaign will also factor non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the crypto fundraising plan.
With the new plan, the first presidential campaign in history to accept cryptocurrencies as payment, Lee plans to try to attract younger voters. According to the report, a survey published in November said that 40.5% of respondents between the ages of 20 and 40 had invested in crypto.
Lee also recently said that his plans included making South Korea the leader of a global cryptocurrency scene, calling digital currencies an "undeniable reality" at a recent conference.
Also, Lee wants cryptocurrencies to have more deduction limits and pay no taxes.
