While the majority of those looking to invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will simply buy it, those with access to powerful computers may opt to mine it instead. If you can’t afford either, well, you could always steal a shitload of computers like 11 people in Iceland did.
Of course, that’s a terrible idea, which is why they all got caught, so it’s probably best not to resort to the physical theft of 600 powerful computers. Collectively worth around $2 million, the PCs were stolen from a number data centres across the country in different burglaries during December and January.
According NBC News, the individuals responsible have been arrested, but the computers are yet to be recovered. If put to work, they could mine a number of different cryptocurrencies and make their owners a helluva lot of money.
Mining is a term used for the process of generating cryptocurrencies using very powerful computers, in which the Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) can be earned by solving complex problems for the currency’s blockchain.
“This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before,” Reykjanes police commissioner, Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, told NBC News. “Everything points to this being a highly organised crime.”
It sure is a unique way to get a hold of some crypto given most criminals interested in digital currencies usually go for online scams or simply hacking. It’s also worth noting that running 600 computers takes a lot of fucking energy, which would have A, cost them a lot of money, and B, probably attract a bit of attention, assuming they were planning on running them all in the same building.
Or maybe they were going to spread the operation out over a few different places, who knows? Either way, the payoff must have been worth it if they went to the trouble of actual burglary to pull it off.
At the time of writing, one Bitcoin is worth $14,839.
