China Might Have Iceland’s Missing Mining Equipment

China Might Have Iceland’s Missing Mining Equipment

In a series of thefts across the months of December 2017 to January 2018, Iceland saw one of the biggest heists that the country has ever known. Approximately $2 million worth of equipment was stolen from data centers in the country over the course of time. Believed to be masterminded by Sindri Thor Stefansson, this was one of the biggest incidents of theft in the country which is fast becoming a haven for cryptocurrency mining due the favorable natural conditions. According to reports, the series of burglary resulted in the theft of over 600 PCs, 100 power supplies. 100 motherboards, 100 CPUs, 100 memory disks and 600 graphics cards from data centers, which are situated in the North Western and South Western part of the country from December 5th of 2017 to January 16th of 2018. This put the estimated value of the cryptocurrency mining equipment close to $2,000,000 dollars. From Iceland to Tianjin? Considering the quantity of the mining equipment which was stolen from Icelandic data centers and then taking a look at a recent raid which was conducted by Chinese authorities in the city of Tianjin, there just might be a link between the two incidents. While the suspects of the burglary have been caught since the incident, they are being uncooperative and the location of all the stolen equipment as of yet is unknown. The local news in Iceland reported that the cryptocurrency mining equipment which was confiscated in the city of Tianjin might very well be the same equipment which was stolen in the series of burglaries in Iceland. The 25th of April saw local news outlet Xinhua News report that the city of Tianjin was subjected to the biggest power theft in recent times as Chinese authorities seized the 600 cryptocurrency mining computers from an illegal cryptocurrency mining farm. Other than the 600 cryptocurrency mining computers which were confiscated by the Chinese authorities, 8 high powered fans which were being used to cool down the massive cryptocurrency mining operation were also confiscated. Its Speculation Until Proven Until there comes such a time that it is proven that the cryptocurrency mining equipment confiscated in Tianjin is indeed the same equipment which was stolen over the course of a month and a half from data centers located in Iceland, it is very difficult to say for sure that the two incidents are definitely linked with one another. The alleged mastermind behind the theft, Sindri Thor Stefansson had managed to escape the low security prison in Iceland and flee to Sweden but has since been recaptured in the Netherlands and is waiting to be extradited back to Iceland. There, he is expected to stand trial and the matter will come to a resolve. We are still waiting to see whether the Icelandic theft resulted in the formation of the closed down illegal cryptocurrency mining operation in Tianjin. Charlie Shrem is a Bitcoin pioneer, a social economist and digital currency trader. His work in this field is legendary. In 2011, at the dawn of the crypto era, he founded BitInstant, the first and largest Bitcoin company. In 2013, he founded the Bitcoin Foundation and serve as its vice chairman. Since then, Charlie has advised more than a dozen digital currency companies, launched and managed numerous partnerships between crypto and non-crypto companies, and is the go-to guy for some of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. In short, he is the ultimate insider at the epicenter of the crypto universe. Crypto.IQ is a premier advisory firm providing expert research, education and advice in the world of cryptoassets. The company is unique in that it combines the unparalleled expertise of crypto pioneer Charlie Shrem with the unparalleled market knowledge of three Wall Street experts with more than a century of combined financial industry experience. Together, they have managed and traded more than $1 billion in assets. In a world of "instant experts," who have little knowledge or trading experience, the Crypto.IQ team offers the proven depth, insight and knowledge to help their clients achieve success. Raise your Crypto.IQ…and profit! Crypto.IQ gives you the insider knowledge you need to succeed as a cryptocurrency investor.

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