China Police Arrests 6 Bitcoin Miners, Size 600 Mining Computers.

According to report, an allegations of electricity theft in China have led to the arrest of bitcoin miners in two Chinese cities and the size of 600 mining computers.

- Police in the north China city of Tianjin confiscated 600 computers used to mine bitcoin cryptocurrency after the local power grid operator reported abnormal electricity usage, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

- "Eight high-power fans were also seized," Xinhua said, quoting local police and added that it was the "largest power theft case in recent years."

In addition to this, six individuals have also been arrested in Tianjin, where the Xinhua news agency said the suspects allegedly used 600 computer cryptocurrency miners to generate bitcoin with power taken from the local power grid. The police claimed they avoided paying the resulting bills by bypassing the electricity meter.

An investigation was launched, Xinhua says, after the local power company noticed spiking electricity consumption while detecting a significant difference from the measured current. That ultimately led to the seizure of the 600 bitcoin miners along with eight high-powered fans.

The case, coming at a time when China still plays a dominant role in bitcoin mining despite hints it might move to dampen the industry, marks the largest power theft in the country in recent years, the report states.

Meanwhile, according to another report today from the official news site of China's supreme prosecutor, two suspects have also been arrested by police in the city of Wuhan - also charged with electricity theft.

The individuals had allegedly been using an empty and discarded warehouse since March 2017 to house bitcoin miners, while avoiding utility bills via a similar method to the Tianjin accused.