Bitcoin Forum

A man in China has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after stealing electricity from a train network in order to mine bitcoin. Xu Xinghua from Shanxi province pleaded guilty to stealing 104,000 yuan (£11,300), which was used to mine 3.2 bitcoins. Given the current price of bitcoin, 3.2 bitcoins is worth only a little more than what was stolen, however in times past it would be worth a lot more.

(this is the article : https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/bitcoin-mining-china-prison-train-electricity-cryptocurrency-energy-environment-a8577791.html)

I think this doesn't belong to Legal.

You shouldn't really steal anything and even electricity for your own generation of profit. This makes mining look bad for the people that doesn't really know what bitcoin and mining is, poor guy.

I think their idea is very bad by stealing electricity and the railroad network, making money not by bringing disaster, but by working perfectly.
Actually there are many jobs besides stealing, by joining this forum can also make money.

This is an obvious case.

It might not even be related to bitcoin mining per se, because of the fact that the main crime here is stealing electricity. If you steal electricity from the state grid for any purpose, you should obviously be expecting some of prosecution to come your way once they find out.

However, I still don't know if this case was aggravated by the fact that bitcoin mining has all kinds of restrictions within China and various mining firms have moved overseas. Still very ambiguous what exactly the restrictions are, in my opinion.

Definitely an extraordinary sentence, 3.5 years for the theft of just over $10,000? That sounds way of whack to me, they must be trying to make an example of him to send a chilling message anybody else.

It sucks that we live in a world where rapists and murders can get the same or shorter sentences that somebody who stole a paltry $10,000. I understand that what he did was wrong, but the sentence is excessive and does not represent fair justice.

Glad I don't live in China. Communists countries always seem to have their sentencing guidelines way out of touch with reality.

Others may decide to copy what he did that's why they sentence him longer than those much worse crimes they have. This definitely is a message to anybody who may want to think of illegal ways to mine bitcoin. Three and a half years in prison is just too much for me though.


Definitely. I know that what he did was wrong and shouldn't be done but still a punishment of that much is excessive. I am curious though as to where is the bitcoin that mined now.

It may look like an extraordinary sentence, but there is a difference between stealing power from a regular power network and stealing power from a train network. In case of the latter, they calculate what potential damage could have been inflicted if trains for whatever reason stopped functioning, or if railway tracks couldn't position themselves. It potentially could have even cost many lives. In that regard, this form of reckless behavior is correctly punished.

So yes, it is a message, and I hope a very clear one.

Well, a poor guy stealing electricity power supply jus to mine bitcoin and I think bitcoin that he mined is not worth to be in jail. That is really punishable by the law, still lucky that he only jailed at 3.5 years. This serves us a moral lesson, why we are stealing even though that is punishable by the law and that stealing electrical power supply is the criminal practice which is not good because time to time you have been caught by the law.

Who knows what Chinese sentencing is like? I'm going to assume that it's not much fun compared to most other places.

A mate of mine stole electricity from his local motorway lights to power his weed growing in a buried shipping container. They seemed more pissed off about the rerouting of power than the drugs. I guess it has the possibility to wreak quite a bit of havoc over a wide area if you mess the job up.

I get the hint that mining with dodgy power is quite a big thing in China.

It should not matter if someone is poor or not if someone is smart enough to mine he is also smart enough to know that he should pay for the electricity he is using. If he could not cover the cost with the Bitcoin he did earn with mining he could better spend his time on another way to earn Bitcoin.

It doesn't shock me at all that he's jailed for that long, we're talking about China here. What shocks me is how stupid people are to even attempt this within a country where human rights and moral standards don't exist.

Thus far nothing has been able to beat the news that came out earlier this year about Russian nuclear scientists who used a super computer within a nuclear facility to mine Bitcoin. They must have been desperate.  

I actually wonder what happened with them. Considering how big of a deal it is, I expected far more coverage but there hasn't been anything other than the initial news articles.  

it is a punishment worthy of paying fines until now individual mining is still dependent on electricity provided by the government, whether we mine cannot use alternative energy as solar power because mining has so far needed so much electricity and as we know the electricity costs are so expensive

He is just one of the unfortunate that got caught. There are so many in China that steal and don't get caught, I heard that the local government even protect it as it creates revenue for the region, or for the local officers.

Well this is new but I am not surprised as a lot of people will do things in order to earn in the crypto industry, I wouldn't think of this clever idea if I wasn't eager to cut down my expenses in mining. He will be imprisoned for almost 4 years just by mining off 3.2 BTC which I think is not worth the risk he took. Mostly criminals are now smarter on how they steal things some call it as "cryptojacking" where the criminals installs a bug or software to use your computer's mining capability without you knowing, there are a lot of cases involve with this but still only a few of them got caught.

This is now a big challenge that as we progresses into the new dimension of technology, and we were able find our future, then evil will always take its part, I know there's a lot of ICO’s who are promoting renewable energy to be utilized in mining which I think, as a true believers of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are worth our support. And this of mind set and innovation that we should support.

You'd be surprised to hear how crimes like theft can be punished in China, or even other less draconian countries in Asia like mine. China has very strict laws that punish street thieves somewhat more harshly than white collar theft. It has a policy of meting out really harsh sentences when the crime is against public property (like electricity).

These types of theft are still considered petty crime almost, especially because it was used to run a business.

$10,000, by the way, is a lot of money where average monthly wage is less than $200 - that's 4 years of normal working life. So 3.5 years actually does sound like an appropriate sentence. On that basis, doesn't look like its association with Bitcoin had any bearings.

This punishment is more of sending a message than being to correct a behavior. The margin he got in terms of profit is not enough with the punishment he will have to go through. It will be surprising that the same justice system that commit this man to 3.5 years for literally stealing £11,300 from the public would commit lesser for government official if found guilty of stealing a higher amount. The most fair deal would be to ask him to either pay the money back or collect the entire amount generated from the enterprise then suspend him. But now, he will have to carry the tag 'convict' for the rest of his life for merely wanting to earn a living in other to supplement his income.


It needs to be here though because it talks about a legal system that the focus is not on stealing but what he used it for which is related to bitcoin and he needs to be punished severely for that.

I have some research on Chinese law，I can answer all your questions about the Chinese law. anyone can ask questions at will here.
This is the English version of the Chinese Criminal Law on theft. Please note that it is not the latest version. The death penalty for theft has been abolished in 2011. Other than that, the other regulations are the same now.


In addition, they have an explanation for the amount of theft, but I didn't find the English version for this explanation.So I translate it for you.
This is the latest explanation for the amount of theft，Announced on March 18, 2013，effective till now：


Simply put，as follows:

• 1,000 or 3,000CNY to 30,000CNY=Large amount=Fixed-term imprisonment <3years

• 30,000 or 100,000CNY to 300,000CNY=Amount is huge=Fixed-term imprisonment  3-10years

• More than 300,000 or 500,000CNY=The amount is especially huge=Fixed-term imprisonment > 10years

• Stealing a banking institution/precious cultural relics=Maybe Life imprisonment  or Death penalty

(This article has been abolished since 2011)


There are 3 points to explain to you：
1. In fact, since 2011, China’s criminal law has abolished the death penalty for theft, but in this English version it has not changed, and I did not find the latest version of the English version.
2. Different provinces in China have different standards for the starting point of the amount of theft, so the “Large amount” starting point will range from 1000-3000, and so on.
3. “Large amount” usually is not sentenced to really imprisonment, usually a probation or be fined (this is not really in prison).

In this thread case, this man theft amount 104,000CNY is “Amount is huge” , the corresponding sentence is Fixed-term imprisonment 3-10years, so he was sentenced to Fixed-term imprisonment 3.5 years.
In fact, his punishment is not serious in China because his stealing electricity from a train network is actually aggravated punishment, because the punishment of stealing public property in China is usually more serious than stealing the same amount of private property, Therefore, it is a relatively light sentence to sentence him to 3.5 years of imprisonment. I guess he may have compensated money.

1. CRIMINAL LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (http://www.chinalawedu.com/new/23223a23228a2010/20101222shangf111042.shtml) (English)
2. Explanation for the amount of theft (http://www.66law.cn/laws/88485.aspx)（Chinese）

That circumstances behind the man who stole the electricity isn't right, and as the Government in china implemented their law that man who committed crime will always be subjected by recommended punishments. There's no problem if that guy who mined bitcoin, will pay for his debts on electricity while doing the mining operations. If he is honest and paid for the electricity consumption fairly for the electric source company who provided his mining power, nothing bad to happen being jailed for 3.5 years.

Ridiculous.. I think it's too much. He committed doing something he can't afford. I think his investment even not right since stealing electricity is the way to get lots of profits is totally not right at all. I wanna suggest him to stop rather than force himself to mine bitcoin that way. I just don't like it, even form of crypto is 'unknown, decentralized, and has no regulation, stealing is stealing, that's what really matter.

Why do humans resorted into illegal things for the seek of money??

We are too attached to material things that we wanted but we don't particularly need.. This man just an one pity example and this will make a lesson learned the hard way.. 3.5 years is like a lifetime for an amount of bitcoin can be accumulated in legally with an effort to do so..

China isn't a place to do such thing,, it has harsh punishment for such actions..

Greed.


I'm sure that he knows what's coming, he took the risk and now paying for it. Yes, China law is really tough, that's why the crime rate is down, but Chinese still find ways to give it a try, if they can get away with it, its fine, but its a life and death situation for someone if they're caught. So he have to pay for it and serves 3.5 years for stealing electricity. Even high officials being caught for corruption can't do anything about the anti-corruption campaign of Pres. Xi. So I think its fair and he deserves the punishment.

Stealing is stealing and it shouldnt really be tolerated no matter what would be the reason on such act. This man do deserved on what he had done because we all know stealing electricity is
a serious crime and if you abide on paying up the bills on the consumption then you are really violating.Those bitcoin that he had mined would only be pay up on the bail but still he manage to have an extra.
I doubt he wont really commit another one for sure since 2nd offense will really be much bigger.

one of my neighbours told me a story of his brother getting caught stealing energy from the grid
he was mining Etherium and directly wired to the grid, so when he was caught he had to pay around 9.800$ fine
no jail sentence though, but the guy is very very behind on his ROI now  :D
as for the sentence being hars in China, come on if he managed to disrupt train operations and people died
it is not as far fetched as you would think , unexpected powerdraw and vouala - an accident

When there is a new job that profitable, human will do anything to achieve it between legal or illegal way.
Crypto mining is new job in this digital era so it's reasonable to happen because as I know that mining require massive amount of electricity.


That's huge, before crypto mining, my people also stole electricity so they can pay their bill with cheap.

I agree on that, we people are the most greedy species on earth. Even though we know that is already a crime, we still doing it because of money. Stealing is a crime, and those people who committed into this crime must be in jail without any reason. Mining is a low ROI as of now, that's why I don't like mining even and that's the reason they stole electric power supply.

Well this is no one above the law and stealing is a crime therefore it is right that he should face the consequence of being a thief. I hope he earned a lot Bitcoin so that there is some will be left to be spend by his family while he is in prison for 3.5 years.

Stealing itself is the against the law whether used for mining or for some other purpose the person is suppose to pay and use it in a right legal way. So anybody who misuse will result in the prison and government has set a good example by sending that person to 3.5 years of jail and now nobody would dare to use it.

I don't think he was aware of what the consequences of his actions were, because if he did, he would refrain from pulling off something so stupid. It's largely pure ignorance combined with a tint of arrogance.

Some people really believe they found ways to remain unnoticed while doing illegal things, and it time on time again proves that you can't remain unnoticed for a long period of time, especially not when it comes to mining.

The peaks in energy consumption can be measured quite easily, and in case of weird usage patterns you can expect a visit from both the police and the company providing you your energy.

Stealing from the government for private benefit is a criminal activity that should be punished and discouraged. Even in businesses, its wrong to use the official properties for personal gains. But in this case, while the man should be punished, sentencing him to 3.5 years in prison is on the extreme that goes beyond just discouraging an action but to send a message about government stand against the continuous popularity of bitcoin.

Stealing is a very bad habit. But there are allot of people who will do anything to generate good income. And they don't care if its bad. Like those people who steal the cryptos of other people. So this man will face the consequence of his actions.

Yeah, this is how greedy they are just to earn profit and this kind of news can affect cryptomarket because people may think that bitcoin is really not that good. If you earn a lot in mining better to do it right or you will be like this man who will suffer because of greediness.

Its better to follow the rules/laws in your place than to suffer later on, this is just a money don't do anything that can make you broke later on. Don't rush to earn huge money, go on the process, take it slowly but surely and you will achieve your goal.

I just think, at this time to find illicit money is difficult already furthermore looking for money that is lawful according to the efforts made by someone and he feels satisfied with the money he got. And the legal problem that was accepted by that person was naturally he got because every country had a different legal concept, and even in my country a law could be assessed with money to make the law malfunction.

That's true, but most of the cryptocurrency theft problems that have happened before so far they can still breathe calmly, there is no attempt for every authority to arrest them.

This is what happens when people get too greedy. He already had the mining rigs, which accounts for most of the capital expenditure. The electricity costs are considerable, but they are nowhere near the capital expenses.

But these kind of options are only being made by those people who are just too greedy and they do make an option even if they do know its completely illegal.
Now, if they have being caught then they do easily regret on what they have done.If we dont like to make ourselves to mind these kind of options then before mining
we should study first about on our profitability and all the expenses would have made.

Yeah even though there are no regulations and rules regarding crypto, and maybe cryptocurrency is still illegal, it doesn't mean you
can steal something related to crypto and there is no punishment, theft is still illegal and you deserved to jailed

Stealing is just an unlawful act so it is right to give them some punishment and consequences, its a government regulation that everybody should respect. We can just do what we want but we have to remain rightful and a law abiding citizen.

It is sad to see people that break the law in search of profit. But do not despair, the person got what he deserved. The only disappointment is the fact that the Chinese authorities will begin to closely monitor the bitcoin market.

- Considering £11,300 = $14412

If you do the maths:
- Minimum wage in China: $300 (?)
- 3.5 years x $300= $12,600

So, The man isn't paying a lot for what he committed, he is jailed for the same amount of his crime. what is left $1,8k represents 6 months of a minimum wage in his country. Trust me in another country he could have had a lot more jail time + pay back the money.

But let us consider other factors such as:
-Inflation Rate
-Lost time serving in jail
-and of course having a criminal record in your resume

He may look like he is not paying much for the crimes he committed but this guy's future is inevitable ruined. Most employers if not hire you will give you a lesser role because you have been to jail that is why having a criminal record would definitely destroy your future, and I think 1,800$ is really not worth it, this person after serving his time will now have a hard time of earning money.

A very bad decision. He could have just do trading and then use the profit of what he will get to start his mining business. It's a train network so what was he thinking? The management will find it out easily. But then again, he can hold all those bitcoins that he mined and when he gets out, he'll be a chinese millionaire for sure.

That is simply to say , "all days are for the thief and one day is for the owner". He has been caught and penalized maximally which is meant to scare other intending thieves away. He must have violated a section of the Chinese law or rule whose penalty is also known or inscribed therein.

Yes, I agreed with you, probably there's one time that they are caught and penalized by the authority. Not now, but for sure time to time they were busted and jailed for how many years. Stealing in government property is easy to trace them so, that is not a good idea at all.
You can work hard without stealing that makes ruined your life.

I thought that electricity is much cheaper in this country as they have lot of power plant specially nuclear powerplant https://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/n/nuclear-power-plant-world-wide.htm. therefore there is no need to be against the law but maybe the man is just trying to earn huge thru mining that is why he do that but still stealing is a crime and punishable by law so hopefully Chinese people will refrain from doing it.

[quote/]But let us consider other factors such as:
-Inflation Rate
-Lost time serving in jail
-and of course having a criminal record in your resume

He may look like he is not paying much for the crimes he committed but this guy's future is inevitable ruined. Most employers if not hire you will give you a lesser role because you have been to jail that is why having a criminal record would definitely destroy your future, and I think 1,800$ is really not worth it, this person after serving his time will now have a hard time of earning money.
[/quote]

It‘s absolutely a bad thing for his applying for a job in the future if a resume contains a criminal record. Through, we also see this from another aspect. Given he has not paid any compensation for his crime committed, that is to say, he still has at least 3.2 BTC during the period of severing the jail. When he went out after 3.5years, the price of BTC may up to Unimaginably expensive level, then he may earn much more money. With that money, they can independently start his own business and do not need to work for another company.
In this way, it is also a good choice. Hope that he does not commit the crime.

Even if electricity were cheaper, it would still be illegal to steal electricity to mine bitcoin. Mining takes up a large consumption of electricity, so something like that would definitely alarm the authorities. The original intent for the elctricity was not for mining bitcoin, so when it was used for other purposes, it’s then considered as stealing. The man was probably trying to save from the cost of electricity by doing so.

No matter what purpose you do make use of that electricity as long you do pay then it wont really cause any problems to you.No matter on where you would
used it as long you do obliged yourself to pay on whats being used. Even you do just tap that wire and consuming 1-2 digit KwH then it would be always considered
as stealing and other forms of it would always be illegal.Therefore, going to jail is just a common consequence for those who violates.

He of course would be familiar with the punishment. If he tries to save cost and succeeds, he excess profit won't also reflect in his tax. That is if he is not a tax invader. It is nice that people do the right thing for a better living.

The keyword is stealing, that's why the man is punished by the Chinese government.

And yeah, maybe 'greed' also is a factor, he wanted to mined more bitcoin that he is capable with, and well his re-course is to take advantage but unfortunately, he was caught and sentence to 3.5 years. It is worth it? No, what he did is really against the law and is punishable. And I'm sure he once he get out, he will go back to crypto but I don't know if he is going to solo mine or not at the difficulty will go up 2020 plus he needs to buy new model of mining hardware.  ;D

Well, maybe really used to steal electricity that we call "jumpering" in our country. This guy stole electricity but wasn't contented. To earn from the resources he stole, He used it to mine. What the heck is that?

Using electricity and it will be billed to others is a crime. A big crime. I am more concerned about the people he stole the line. I wonder how did they react when the bill comes at their door and had big bills.

the same event happend to us  , we are shocked that our electric bills got expensive unexpectedly even if we are still using the same gadgets and appliances eventually we found out that we have been "jumpered" jumpering or jumper is also the word to describe when someone is stealling electricity on our country/place    .  the guy in the news was genius but he uses his special ability in a bad way  .

You would really be shocked in your electricity bills because mining operation do really consumes a lot and when the price of electricity on your place is high then
you would surely have a headache and been wondering on where those consumptions came from. Stealing electricity is really a big crime even here on my country too which suspect
would really face up several years of imprisonment.

You can't really underestimate people's stupidity and this is one classic example. How the hell it even crosses someone's mind to steal just to mine bitcoin for his own good? And on top of jail sentencing, he needs to pay a fine of 100,000 yuan (£10,930). You lost your freedom for three years and then you lost your mining gear and I'm sure by that time you get out, it's already obsolete and then you lost money here. How stupid move is that?

They won't have to pay the bill. When someone steals your car and hits a pedestrian you are not responsible. People who he was stealing from aren't either and no court will sentence them. He probably wasn't stealing from another person but straight from the street connection. It's much more difficult to tap into someone's house.

Hevs a little bit odd though. Why cant you steel electricity on your neighbor instead? Train network is a big deal. The difference between the number of miners then and now are lesser because of this. Mining needs a lot of power and ofcourse its expensive. The profit of the miners are lesser than their expenses.

This is a serious offence and stealing anything of public or government property will lead to such results and accordingly the government will take the due course of actions prescribed  under that country law . I think people should refrain from such acts which could spoil their career if they do such things .

Once the person knows that bitcoin is worth, he will do many things to get or earn bitcoin and maybe that is the reason why he steals electricity to mine bitcoin. That man knows that bitcoin can give him a lot of money, but unfortunately, he uses the wrong way to earn bitcoin and now makes him to jail. It's not good for his life because he cannot continue to earn bitcoin but if he changes his mind in the past, maybe right now, he can be a rich person in his town.

People does these stupid things in order to make profit, if he was running the miner and he will not end up in a profit and so is the reason he found a short cut to make easy money and i am sure there were many illegal mining being done around the world with stolen electricity and i have heard about people getting busted in news in the past few years and most of these illegal mining farms are common in Asian countries.

Honestly, this is so sad to hear. He would have searched for another genuine source to mine. People are generally not just sincere. Some companies are working on renewable forms of energy to mine Bitcoins. Companies like Future Energy. I don't know what else to say.

Well, its a crime and it should be punished. Maybe some of users will say that 3,5 years for such innocent kind of crime is too much, but Chinese laws are generally rough and I am not surprised of this.

Here in our country, you can get away with it, because there is a generation lost cost from our bill where paying customers are paying electricity that is lost from those people who are stealing electricity, and the electric company are not even charging those thieves.

With Bitcoin potential in the future, people will be tempted to do that, it's unfortunate that he was caught, but that will be a big warning
On top of the prison sentence, Mr Xinghua also received a fine of 100,000 yuan (£10,930),  anyway he can keep that Bitcoin and when he is freed it could worth ten times of what he's  fine for.

What he did was robbery. Whether he was a Bitcoin miner or not is irrelevant here. If the amount was a few hundred USD, then he could have escaped punishment with a monetary fine. Anyway... I don't understand the need to steal electricity. If he could afford the mining rigs, how can we say that he couldn't afford the electricity.

I'm thinking it's worth it, my bad  :D if those Bitcoin will worth hundreds of thousands in 4 years that's a huge reward from that very risky action, provided that he still holding those Bitcoin, if not he will be sorry that he did that, hey it's happening to many parts of the world where people are very much into mining Bitcoin

Chinese laws are very strict and this guy has his life destroyed for stealing $20,000 worth of electricity. But I am quite confused after reading the article. If he could afford the expensive mining rigs, why he decided to go for the stolen power? I think that he was overconfident about his abilities and might have thought that his theft would go un-noticed.

I think the main issue here was not that he landed into a jail because he mined bitcoin. He landed in a jail because he chose to steal electricity for the same. Stealing Electricity in China is a criminal offense taken pretty seriously & amount of loss incurred by the Govt. due to this act of the person would be reimbursed in the form of fine from him.

Right, I think the consideration is not what kind of item is it, if it is worthy and has value, it will certainly be processed by law,
and of course theft is wrong and crime. of course he will receive the appropriate punishment

Three years and almost 11 thousand pounds to be exact, but I did not read or there was no news that they compensated his Bitcoin or he is holding that Bitcoin he mined using the electricity he stole if he still had it, then he will just have to wait for Bitcoin to reach $50k and he is good to go.

There are no news if those bitcoins being seized or he do still have the full control of it.If he does then 3 years time might be shorten knowing that Bitcoin halving would happen on  24 May 2020 00:50:56
and we do know that this event will make some extraordinary price increase together with some hype for sure.Those 3 bitcoin he do store up will probably pay up on the corresponding bail to freed up himself.
Stealing is never been good because no matter what form it is,you will still face up consequences.