Two people were sentenced to prison for illegally connecting to high-voltage power lines to mine Bitcoin in pigsties; the ringleader was sentenced to 10 years.

According to a report published on the China Judgments Online website, the Honggang District People's Court of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, recently released a first-instance judgment, sentencing Zhang to ten years in prison and Zhao to four years and ten months in prison for theft. Zhang and Zhao, for illegal profit, illegally tapped into high-voltage power lines at an oil field to steal electricity and set up 36 Bitcoin mining machines in an abandoned pigsty. The investigation revealed that on September 8, 2024, Zhang illegally tapped into a high-voltage power line at an oilfield owned by a limited liability company in Daqing, stealing electricity from an abandoned pigsty in a rented slaughterhouse to power his Bitcoin mining machines. Zhang purchased 24 mining machines. Later, Zhang contacted Zhao and invited him to join them in operating the Bitcoin mining machines. On December 12, 2024, Zhao, seeing Zhang profiting from cryptocurrency mining, knowingly participated in stealing electricity from an oil field to power Bitcoin mining rigs. Zhao funded the purchase of 12 mining rigs, and the two operated a total of 36 Bitcoin mining rigs. Zhang was responsible for contacting suppliers to purchase the rigs, illegally connecting to the power grid, providing operating space for the rigs, providing maintenance services, and selling Bitcoins. Zhao assisted Zhang with daily checks of the 36 machines and provided on-site maintenance for the rig switches. On August 1, 2025, Zhang and Zhao were arrested by the police. It was calculated that Zhang stole 565,375.2 kWh of electricity from the oil field, worth RMB 438,580.52. Zhao, from December 12, 2024 onwards, stole 468,060 kWh of electricity from the oil field, worth RMB 363,750.78. The court held that the defendants Zhang and Zhao, with the intent to illegally possess, stole public and private property, the amount of which was particularly large, and their actions constituted the crime of theft. This case was a joint crime; Zhang played a principal role and was the principal offender; Zhao played a secondary and auxiliary role and was an accessory. Given that both Zhang and Zhao confessed and pleaded guilty, and considering Zhao's status as an accessory, a lighter or reduced sentence was appropriate in accordance with the law. (China News Weekly)