PANews 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. The ringleader, Zhang, set up 24 mining machines 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 machines, bringing the total to 36. It was determined that Zhang stole 565,375.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity, valued at 438,580.52 yuan, while Zhao stole 468,060 kilowatt-hours of electricity, valued at 363,750.78 yuan, starting in December 2024 . The court determined that the amount stolen by the two men was exceptionally large, sentencing Zhang to 10 years in prison and a fine of 50,000 yuan, and Zhao to 4 years and 10 months in prison and a fine of 20,000 yuan. They were also ordered to refund the electricity fees according to the amount stolen, and the relevant mining machines and equipment were to be disposed of by the public security authorities in accordance with the law.