Malaysia’s national utility provider, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), has revealed staggering losses exceeding RM 4.6 billion approximately $1.11 billion USD due to illegal electricity theft by cryptocurrency miners, primarily targeting Bitcoin.
This issue spans from 2020 to August 2025 and has prompted a nationwide crackdown involving advanced monitoring and joint enforcement actions. TNB identified 13,827 premises across the country where operators illegally bypassed or tampered with electricity meters to power high-energy crypto mining rigs.
These operations siphoned power directly from the grid, evading payments and straining the national electricity supply system. The theft equates to roughly 1.5 billion kWh of unpaid electricity, causing direct revenue losses to TNB and broader risks to grid stability, public safety, and economic security. Cases surged 300% between 2018 and 2024, from 610 to 2,397 incidents annually.
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While cryptocurrency mining is legal in Malaysia, electricity theft violates the Electricity Supply Act 1990, carrying penalties of up to RM 10,000 fines or jail time. However, experts note that current laws lack specificity for crypto-related theft, leading to calls for stricter regulations.
The Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry disclosed these figures in a parliamentary reply on November 19, 2025, highlighting TNB’s collaborative efforts with police and other agencies. Key measures include: A centralized system tracks owners and tenants of suspicious premises, enabling targeted inspections.
Smart Meter Rollout: Installation at distribution substations for real-time detection of anomalies like power manipulation. Raids have seized mining equipment, with authorities urging public tips on illegal wiring.
This crisis mirrors global challenges in energy-intensive regions, where cheap electricity attracts miners but burdens utilities. In Southeast Asia, similar issues plague Thailand and Indonesia, underscoring the need for region-wide policies.
As Bitcoin’s energy demands grow amid rising prices, Malaysia’s case highlights the tension between innovation and infrastructure protection—potentially influencing how other nations balance crypto growth with energy equity.
TNB is aggressively rolling out Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) smart meters to combat the RM 4.6 billion electricity theft problem, especially from illegal Bitcoin mining. Here are the key technical details of the systems currently in use or being expanded.
Primarily Landis+Gyr E450 and Itron OpenWay meters both widely used in Malaysia. PLC (Power Line Communication) + 2G/3G/4G cellular fallback. Substation-level and feeder-level smart meters critical for theft detection. High-precision 0.2s class meters installed at distribution substations and pole-top transformers
These compare total energy entering a feeder against the sum of all customer meters downstream. Energy Balance MonitoringThis is the most effective tool against crypto miners who bypass customer meters.
Crypto miners typically:Tamper or bypass the customer meter. Draw 200–2,000 kW directly from the medium-voltage line? Creates a huge discrepancy that substation smart meters instantly flag. Magnetic tamper, reverse flow, bypass detection.
Event logging; Records meter cover opening, high temperature, phase imbalance. TNB uses machine-learning models to flag “non-human” 24/7 flat loads typical of mining rigs. GPS-stamped photos. Technicians take geo-tagged photos during inspection.
Central server aggregates data from 9+ million meters nationwide. Mesh radio in dense urban areas. Head-End System (HES): Centralized platform that processes 500 million+ readings daily. Integration with GIS pinpoints exact transformer or street where losses occur within metres.
In short, the combination of high-precision substation metering + near real-time energy balancing + AI anomaly detection has become TNB’s most powerful weapon. Illegal miners can no longer hide behind bypassed customer meters; the grid itself now “sees” the missing energy within hours.