Malaysia has uncovered approximately 14,000 illegal Bitcoin mining operations over the past five years, resulting in an estimated $1.1 billion loss for the state-owned electricity company, TNB, due to electricity theft. The surge in Bitcoin's price to a high of $126,000 this year has coincided with increased volatility, leading to a rise in electricity theft cases related to mining, reaching about 3,000 incidents by October. In response, the Malaysian government established an inter-agency task force on November 19, comprising the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, and TNB, to explore further measures to combat these illegal activities. Deputy Minister of Energy Transition, Akmal, highlighted that illegal mining poses a threat to the power grid infrastructure and noted the organized nature of these operations, which often employ mobile setups.