Take a look inside this underground crypto mining farm in Ukraine with its 3,800 PlayStations and 5,000 computers

Take a look inside this underground crypto mining farm in Ukraine with its 3,800 PlayStations and 5,000 computers
  • Ukraine police last week seized around 9,000 games consoles and computers in an illegal crypto mine.

  • The mine was stealing as much as $259,300 in electricity each month, investigators said.

  • Police said it was the largest underground crypto mine to have been discovered in Ukraine.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

A huge underground cryptocurrency mining operation has been busted by Ukraine police for allegedly stealing electricity from the grid.

Police said they'd seized 5,000 computers and 3,800 games consoles that were being used in the illegal mine, the largest discovered in the country.

The mine, in the city of Vinnytsia, near Kyiv, stole as much as $259,300 in electricity each month, the Security Service of Ukraine said. To conceal the theft, the operators of the mine used electricity meters that did not reflect their actual energy consumption, officials said.

"Such illegal activity could lead to power surges and left people without electricity," the security service said.

Police said that criminal proceedings had begun over the theft of water, electricity, and thermal energy. The mine was run by residents of Kyiv and Vinnytsia, a city about three hours outside the capital, police said.

Metal racks with Sony Playstation consoles in a Ukraine crypto mine
Gaming consoles in the crypto mine in a photo released by officials. Security Service of Ukraine

Photos released by state investigators show a cavernous room filled wall-to-wall with metal racks of neatly lined-up computers and Sony Playstation consoles.

Along with the computers and consoles, officials said they also seized more than 500 graphic cards, 50 processors, and documentation on the site's electricity consumption. They also took notebooks, phones, and flash drives, according to the press statement.

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