Bitcoin News: Brazilian police find 300 stolen Bitcoin miners in Paraguay

Brazilian police have recovered 300 stolen bitcoin mining machines in Paraguay as of April. The machines were found on a farm in the Yby Yau area of Concepción, on the premises of a company called Kaagata. As the Brazilian crypto platform Portal for Bitcoin reports, during the operation of the special forces (DAS) all 300 machines were still functioning and the authorities had to shut them down before collecting them. As part of the operation, a man was arrested and weapons and ammunition were also confiscated. About 200 machines are still missing.

Mediation and personal cargo of Dpto. Antisecuestro de Personas- Regional Alto Paraná and the detainee junto con las evidenzas fueron puestos and disposition of las authoridades competentes. pic.twitter.com/27RkgWe3yX
— National Police of Paraguay (@policia_py) May 8, 2023

The machines were stolen on April 15 at a farm in Alfredo Pla, also in Paraguay. According to reports, this happened in a spectacular way. According to this, a dozen masked and armed people stole 492 machines. At the time of the robbery, ABC en El Este website reported, it took the bandits a good two hours to dismantle the equipment and power generators and load them into the stolen truck.

Bitcoin mining machines are popular prey

While some are targeting classic ATMs, which have been repeatedly blown up in Germany, organized crime has been on the trail of mining servers and graphics cards since the advent of bitcoin.

In 2017, around 600 bitcoin mining machines worth around $2 million were stolen in Iceland. The Icelander Sindri Þór Stefánsson, who previously planned to escape through Sweden, has been in prison ever since. But the devices were gone. About a year later, the trail suddenly led to China.

“This is a massive theft on an unprecedented scale,” police commissioner Olafur Helgi Kjartansson said of the events in an interview with the Associated Press at the time. “Everything points to highly organized crime.” The list has since grown to include much more mining equipment. This is how the crypto ticker reported:

600 powerful servers specially designed for bitcoin mining
600 graphics card
100 processors
100 power supplies
100 motherboards
100 sets of RAM memory

A different type of mining theft occurred in Malaysia in 2021. According to reports from the American broadcaster CNBC, the police on the island of Borneo have confiscated 1,069 computers from several illegal Bitcoin farms. According to the FAZ, Deputy Police Chief Hakemal Hawari reported that the Bitcoin miners are said to have stolen electricity worth about two million US dollars, which was removed from the Sarawak Energy lines. From February to April of the year, appropriate raids were then carried out against the Bitcoin producers in six plants.

The reaction of the authorities was very severe. So it was decided to destroy the mining equipment to attract public attention. That can be called radical. China, for example, has responded to similar situations by auctioning confiscated computers in the past.

The production of virtual currency through crypto mining is a process that requires a lot of energy. In order to produce bitcoins, powerful computers with appropriate graphics cards are needed. this consumes a lot of power, which can overload local networks.

Although cryptocurrency mining is not illegal in Malaysia, there are strict regulations regarding energy consumption. Those found to have illegally accessed power lines face heavy fines and up to five years in prison. After all, this is about amounts in the millions and not about just earning 500 euros.

According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, Malaysia and Argentina are not really mining strongholds. In international comparison, they are only responsible for 2.51% (Malaysia) and 0.06% (Argentina) of global mining activities.

Bitcoin price increases

However, the Bitcoin is not irritated by the criminal machinations. In the last five days, the price has started a small rally, currently worth €27,300. This corresponds to an increase of almost two percent.

However, the leading cryptocurrency cannot follow a true trend, at least not in the medium term. Although it has clearly risen by 60% since the beginning of the year, the current level has been maintained since March. It seems that the market is still not sure if you can trust Bitcoin. It probably depends on external stimuli, which can lead to swings in both directions.

Can SPONGE price pick up speed?

So there are still uncertainties, which could provide an opportunity for meme coins. The idea of a cryptocurrency based on the popular US cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants could also cause a sensation in the market. However, SPONGE, as this digital currency is called, has no intrinsic value, no formal team or detailed plan. Rather, the coin is for entertainment and doesn’t really have any practical use.

Running on the Ethereum network, SPONGE refers to the goal of becoming one of the best meme coins and creating a community-driven digital asset. Investors are hoping for potential gains to match recent explosions in meme coins like PEPE.

However, it remains to be seen if a sponge actually has such potential or if it is just another hype that will soon die. Much may also depend on whether Bitcoin will be able to break through its sideways movement. Then SPONGE’s forecast could also be more positive.