$579K in stolen Bitcoin mining computers recovered and man arrested, LAPD says
A 27-year-old Canyon Country man was arrested on suspicion of stealing Bitcoin mining computers worth an estimated $579,000, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday.
Bryan Thola allegedly had the stolen computers in his cargo van and a public storage unit, according to an LAPD news release. He was booked into LAPD's Van Nuys Jail Thursday and released the following day on his own recognizance, inmate records show.
Photos released by LAPD show stacks of computers piled inside a van and in the room of a storage unit.
Such devices are part of a broader global network of high-powered computers that run the Bitcoin code to verify transactions and record them onto the cryptocurrency's blockchain — a process that involves solving complex algorithms to record a new series of transactions called a block, according to Forbes. Computers compete to add blocks to the chain and and miners are paid by the block.
"The mining, or transaction processing, is accomplished by incredibly expensive and powerful computers whose sole function is to run algorithms to solve the mathematical problem that allows their owner to win a Bitcoin block — and the revenue that comes with it," Richard Baker, CEO of miner and blockchain services provider TAAL Distributed Information Technologies, told Forbes.
It's unclear how LAPD came across the allegedly stolen computers.
No other details have been released by police as the investigation continues.
Anyone with information can call LAPD's Commercial Crimes Division at 213-486-5920 between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. During non-business hours or weekends, the department can be reached at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Those wishing to remain anonymous can call LA Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or visit LAPDOnline.org click on "webtips."
