Chinese man jailed for 3.5 years after stealing electricity to mine bitcoin

[Dominic_Johnson]

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)

[passwordnow]

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.

[Mhd-Bobbi]

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 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.

[timerland]

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.

[DarkDays]

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.

[entrepmind23]

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.

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.

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.

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.

[1Referee]

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 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.

[Capt00]

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.

[gentlemand]

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.

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.

[onlinedragon]

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.

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.

[BitHodler]

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.  

[Ojengonggu]

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

[fisheater]

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.

[Harlot]

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.

[Tapyaks72]

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.

[buwaytress]

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.

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.

[audaciousbeing]

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)

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.

I think this doesn't belong to Legal.

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.

[coin8coin8]

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.

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.

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.

¹ Article 264 Whoever steals a relatively large amount of public or private property or commits theft repeatedly shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount is huge, or if there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined; if the amount is especially huge, or if there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or be sentenced to confiscation of property; whoever falls under any of the following categories shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death, and shall also be sentenced to confiscation of property:
(1) stealing a banking institution and the amount involved is especially huge;
(2) stealing precious cultural relics and the circumstances are serious.

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：

² Theft of public or private property worth from 1,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan, or 300,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan or more shall be deemed as "Large amount", “Amount is huge”, "The amount is especially huge."as stipulated in Article 264 of the Criminal Law.  

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 (English)
2. Explanation for the amount of theft（Chinese）

[Edsemen]

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.

[KorakPawon]

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.