BITCOIN BLAZE
Illegal Bitcoin mining factory sparks massive blaze thanks to overheating computers used to create cryptocurrency
AN inferno at a block of flats is believed to have been caused by overheating computers in an illegal bitcoin mining factory.
The night-time blaze in eastern Russia destroyed eight apartments and flooded dozens more as firefighters tackled the flames.
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Pictures after it was put out showed charred computer equipment found on the top floor- said to have been used for "mining" the virtual currency.
Experts suspect a resident had illegally tapped into the block’s electricity supply, leading to a heavy power surge.
Locals in Artem, near Vladivostok, said it was a “miracle” no one died.
The Emergencies Ministry confirmed: "We have spotted something which looks like mining equipment.”
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And a resident called Oleg said that “mining rig equipment was found in the attic”.
He said: “I would now ban miners totally... so many apartments are burned completely, and 30 are flooded.”
Many Russians are seeking to get rich quick though bitcoins after an explosion in their value.
Mining - using software to verify blockchain transactions and create new units of the cryptocurrency - is legal.
But the powerful computer equipment needed uses lots of electricity, and in a number of cases miners have broken into power supplies of residential blocks or warehouses.
Firefighters warn this overheats electrical circuits with potentially deadly consequences.
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Resident Roman Vislobokov : “Our apartment was across the wall from the fire.
“At first our neighbour’s attic caught fire. We survived by a miracle…at about 2am my girlfriend woke me with hallucinations from carbon monoxide gas.
“By that time there was no electricity. In the smoke and darkness we grabbed our passports, took the dog, put on our shoes and jackets - and ran.
“For half an hour we watched as everything burned, the fire spread all over our apartment.”
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Separately, in secret nuclear town Sarov, the FSB secret service detained two engineers who used a government supercomputer to mine bitcoins.
They flouted rules by connecting the computer to the internet.
One report claimed: “They were about to get some bitcoins when FSB officers intervened and shut down this illegal farm.”
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Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are favoured by crooks on the dark web as transactions cannot be traced, but they have also entered the mainstream with trading on exchanges.
Canny investors have made millions from the surge in the value of Bitcoin in recent years, although it has slumped by three-quarters in two months amid fears the bubble is about to burst.
Last month masked robbers forced a City trader to transfer his Bitcoin fortune to them after bursting into his home and threatening his wife and baby at gunpoint in Oxfordshire.
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