Lei Hua, a Chinese school teacher, was allegedly conducting his own Ethereum (ETH) mining operation at the school where he was employed. Last month, Hua lost his job due to his mining operation using as it was using the school’s electricity.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) stated that Hua had been mining in secrecy ether on school grounds for nearly a year, and the school’s management was footed an electricity bill of 14,700 Chinese yuan (almost. $2,120) – which may have been substantially higher than the school’s usual power consumption costs.
The high school where Hua had been teaching and-up until now, mining- is located in Hunan China’s central province.
The teacher first started mining ether from his home computer in June of 2017 after he acquired crypto mining hardware worth of 10,000 CNY (~ $1440). The rather small Ethereum mining operation required on average 21 kilowatts/hour of electricity each day in order to mine Ether.
Hua then relocated the mining hardware to his high school to try to save money on his electricity bill. He also set up seven more mining computers from the school’s computer lab.
When a school employee first inquired why the electricity bill increased so much, Hua claimed it was due to the overuse of heaters and air conditioners.
Almost a year passed before Hua was finally found out, and in this time, he aided the school’s deputy headmaster to buy his own mining hardware – which he also installed on school grounds.
However, law officials have reportedly confiscated the mining machines and the cryptocurrency made by Hua and the deputy headmaster. How much they earned from their crypto mining operation has not been revealed to the press.
Chinese authorities have been cracking down on crypto-related activities – which also involves the restriction of China’s extensive mining operations.
