Overview
- Law enforcement and CPFL Piratininga removed roughly 1,400 mining rigs from facilities in Jundiaí and Louveira after a May 20 operation that stopped an estimated 2 gigawatt-hours of stolen power.
- Investigators found nine rigged three-phase transformers with a combined capacity of 8,470 kVA that channeled grid electricity into the mining farms.
- Authorities emphasized the crime was power theft rather than mining itself, since Bitcoin mining is legal in Brazil and prosecutors are pursuing the electricity-theft case.
- A March 2026 law lets authorities seize and sell digital assets tied to crime, creating a path for any linked crypto to be liquidated and possibly affect markets.
- The probe is ongoing, no suspects have been named, and the utility says the lost electricity represents a direct cost to customers that investigators will trace as they try to link wallets or cash-outs.