Malaysia's national electricity company, Tenaga Nasional, has suffered a loss of over $1 billion due to electricity theft for cryptocurrency mining.

On November 19th, the Malaysian Ministry of Energy announced that from 2020 to August of this year, the country's state-owned utility company, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), has suffered a loss of more than $1 billion due to illegal electricity usage by cryptocurrency miners. In a written parliamentary reply released on November 18th (Tuesday), the Malaysian Ministry of Energy and Water Affairs Transformation stated that during this period, the national power company (stock code: TENA.KL) identified 13,827 premises engaged in illegal electricity usage for cryptocurrency mining. The ministry pointed out that illegal electricity usage for cryptocurrency mining (especially Bitcoin mining) has caused an economic loss of 4.6 billion Ringgit (approximately $1.1 billion), and added that the national power company is cooperating with relevant departments to curb electricity theft. Although Malaysia currently lacks specific regulations on cryptocurrency mining, according to the Electricity Supply Act, tampering with electricity meters or bypassing meters through unauthorized connections is considered illegal. The Ministry of Energy stated that through joint actions involving the department, police, telecommunications regulatory authority, anti-corruption agency, and other law enforcement agencies, the national power company has seized multiple Bitcoin mining machines at the implicated premises.