Cryptocurrency Mining Operation Uncovered at Polish Police Headquarters: Report

"A civilian employee, not a police officer... attempted to steal electricity to mine Bitcoin," a police spokesman said.

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By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 31 July 2021 11:11 IST
Highlights
  • A civilian employee attempted to steal electricity to mine bitcoin
  • Alleged crime had been discovered "quite quickly"
  • Employee had been fired and prosecutors were investigating

Polish police on Friday said they had uncovered a bitcoin mining operation in their own headquarters in Warsaw.

"A civilian employee, not a police officer... attempted to steal electricity to mine bitcoin," police spokesman Mariusz Ciarka told the TVN24 news channel.

"Unfortunately this happened at a police site," Ciarka said, emphasising that at no stage did the suspect have access to police databases.

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Ciarka added that the alleged crime had been discovered "quite quickly" but did not give a precise timeline.

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TVN24 said the employee had been fired and prosecutors were investigating.

The report said a second person was also about to be fired over the investigation.

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Crypto-mining -- the process by which computers mint new virtual currency and validate transactions -- requires vast amounts of energy and processing power.

The process typically involves large numbers of sophisticated computers that form a specially designed "rig" that runs the complex calculations required to maintain a cryptocurrency network.

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While energy-hungry, the process can be lucrative with each bitcoin currently worth more than 32,600 euros ($38,800).

As of July 31 (10:47am IST), Bitcoin price in India stood at Rs. 31.1 lakhs.


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