Illustration of golden physical coin of Bitcoin on US dollar banknote. Visual representation of digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin and US dollar banknotes. Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, XBT, is a popular digital currency that has grown and become widely accepted and accepted as a payment method in banks, markets, and other services and stores. Today's exchange rate for 1 Bitcoin blockchain is 32.287 USD. According to American Financial Media, the value of the virtual currency Bitcoin soared to an all-time high in 2021, reaching $63,000. July 23, 2021, Thessaloniki, Greece (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Three men have been arrested and charged with receiving stolen property after nearly $7 million in stolen Bitcoin mining computers were recovered, authorities announced Thursday.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, detectives with the Commercial Crimes Division's Cargo Theft Unit arrested the three suspects on March 19 at an undisclosed location.
The computer recovered during the arrest was valued at $6.9 million, according to a Los Angeles Police Department news release.
According to financial institution NerdWallet, anyone can participate in the Bitcoin mining process, but without an application-specific integrated circuit computer (also known simply as an ASIC), the chances of reaping Bitcoin rewards are extremely slim.
“When Bitcoin started more than a decade ago, mining on a computer was no big deal,” Nerdwallet reports. “However, as the value of Bitcoin increases, so does the competition for rewards, creating an arms race to introduce faster and more powerful mining equipment. Mining has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Currently, the highest paid miners are those with warehouses full of ASICs.”
Detectives said the suspect was found in possession of 608 Bitcoin mining machines, although authorities did not say whether the Bitcoin mining computers were purpose-built integrated circuit computers.
The three suspects were identified by police as 47-year-old Vardan Vardanyan, 36-year-old Vagarshak Vardanyan, and 34-year-old Samvel Pilovan.
All three were booked on number 77.th street prison.
Anyone with additional information regarding this investigation or crimes of this nature is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department Commercial Crimes Unit at 213-486-5920. Anonymous tips can be submitted through LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or online at LA Crime Stoppers.
