Chinese Authorities Crack Down on Illegal Bitcoin Mining with Severe Sentences

China's ongoing crackdown on illegal Bitcoin mining activities has yielded a harsh sentence for two men in Heilongjiang Province. Zhang and Zhao, identified as the ringleader and accomplice respectively, were found guilty of stealing electricity from an oilfield to power 24 Bitcoin mining machines in an abandoned pigsty.

The duo's operation was discovered in September 2024, but their punishment serves as a stark reminder of China's commitment to stamping out such activities. The court handed down a shared 14-year prison sentence between the two men, with Zhang facing the lion's share of the term due to his role as the primary perpetrator.

This severe sentence is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a broader effort by Chinese authorities to curb illegal crypto mining. In March, a major polysilicon producer in Xinjiang was hit with $14.5 million in liabilities for supplying electricity to miners without permission. The raid also led to the confiscation of illicit gains and the shutdown of between 400,000 to over 1 million mining machines.

Despite this crackdown, the global Bitcoin network has continued to become more competitive, with mining difficulty remaining near all-time high levels. According to Cloverpool data, the current difficulty rate sits at approximately 139 trillion, while the global hash rate stands at 981.59 EH/s. This sustained level of competition means that profitable mining now requires access to cheap power and energy-efficient hardware.