Two people in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, were sentenced for illegally connecting to high-voltage power lines in an oil field to mine Bitcoin.

CoinFeed reported on April 3 that, according to China News Weekly, the Honggang District Court of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, recently announced its first-instance judgment, sentencing two defendants for theft for illegally connecting to high-voltage power lines in an oil field to "steal electricity" for Bitcoin mining rigs. The ringleader, Zhang, set up 24 mining rigs in an abandoned pigsty starting in September 2024 and illegally connected to a high-voltage power line from an oilfield. He later recruited Zhao to join him, purchasing an additional 12 mining rigs, bringing the total to 36. It was determined that Zhang stole 565,375.2 kWh of electricity, valued at 438,580.52 yuan, while Zhao stole 468,060 kWh of electricity, valued at 363,750.78 yuan, starting in December 2024.