By Fatma Younis
Some 600 computers used for mining bitcoin have been stolen in Iceland in what local media have dubbed the “big bitcoin heist,” one of the largest thefts in the country’s history. The burglaries occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula, and the equipment is valued at nearly £1.5 million.
Arrests and Investigation
Police have arrested 11 people in connection with the four burglaries. The stolen computers have not yet been recovered.
Value and Potential Profit
Authorities say the thieves could generate further income by using the machines to mine cryptocurrency and then selling it. Bitcoin’s value surged last year, rising from below $1,000 to a peak above $20,000.
Police Statement
“This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before,” said police commissioner Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, adding that evidence points to a highly organized crime.
How Bitcoin Mining Works
Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009. Its supply increases through mining, where computers solve mathematical problems for each transaction and receive a fraction of a bitcoin as a reward. Transactions are recorded on a public ledger called a blockchain.
