Two men in Heilongjiang sentenced for stealing electricity to mine Bitcoin

According to China News Weekly, the Honggang District People’s Court in Daqing, Heilongjiang Province, recently issued a first-instance judgment ruling that two men were criminally punished for theft after illegally tapping into an oil field’s high-voltage power line to steal electricity for Bitcoin mining. The ringleader, Zhang, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RMB 50,000; the accomplice, Zhao, received a sentence of 4 years and 10 months in prison and a fine of RMB 20,000. The judgment document revealed that in September 2024, Zhang illegally connected to a high-voltage power line belonging to a Daqing oil production plant and installed 24 Bitcoin mining machines in a rented abandoned pigsty. In December of the same year, Zhao joined the scheme with full knowledge of Zhang’s electricity theft and purchased an additional 12 mining machines, bringing the total number of operating machines to 36. Both men were arrested by public security authorities in August 2025. According to calculations, Zhang stole 565,375.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity, valued at RMB 438,580.52; Zhao stole 468,060 kilowatt-hours, valued at RMB 363,750.78. The court determined that both men committed theft, with Zhang as the principal offender and Zhao as an accomplice. The court ordered Zhang to repay RMB 438,580.52 and held Zhao jointly liable for the repayment of RMB 363,750.78. The mining machines and related equipment involved in the case will be handled by public security authorities in accordance with the law.