Criminals stole $2 million worth of crypto mining systems in Iceland

A couple of months ago, Iceland was the subject of a number of big Bitcoin heists. This time, it wasn't the virtual cryptocurrency that got stolen but physical computers that are used to mine cryptocurrency coins. Three burglaries took place in December 2017 and a fourth followed in January 2018. In total, some 600 computer systems with a total value of almost $2 million were stolen.

AP reports 11 people were arrested, but the cryptocurrency mining equipment has not yet been found.

“This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before,” said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, the police commissioner on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, where two of the burglaries took place. “Everything points to this being a highly organized crime.”

Three of four burglaries took place in December and a fourth took place in January, but authorities did not make the news public earlier in hopes of tracking down the thieves.

The report notes the police is monitoring electric power consumption across the country in hopes of finding the illegal cryptocurrency mine.