In short
- Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations has expanded its investigation into “grey Chinese capital” that allegedly used illegal crypto mining to make more than 10 billion yuan, about $300 million, a year.
- Investigators confiscated more than 6,390 mining equipment, stole electricity from a state-owned company worth more than 953 million baht ($29 million), and handed over eight arrest warrants, four for Chinese currency and four for Myanmar nationals.
- DSI says mining is leading the recovery of money from social media corruption and online gambling, with smugglers withdrawing 30 to 50 million baht a day from Thai banks.
Thailand’s top criminal investigation agency is expanding the threat of illegal crypto mining that it says doubles as a clearinghouse for Chinese-linked criminals.
The Special Investigation Department said on Friday it had expanded its investigation into China’s “grey” capital, a term that says illegal money is run through shady channels, linked to illegal mining and international money laundering, with a flow of more than 10 billion baht ($300 million) a year, according to a Image of DSI.
The case grew out of a 2025 crime spree in which DSI’s Technology and Cyber Crime Bureau busted three mining networks accused of stealing electricity to run their equipment. Authorities confiscated more than 6,390 machines and put the damage to the Provincial Electricity Authority at more than 953 million baht, about $29 million, one of the biggest thefts in recent memory.
Researchers to say mining operations served as a hub for money from corruption and online gambling, where Myanmar nationals were recruited to take 30 million to 50 million baht, about $920,000 to $1.5 million, in money from Thai banks every day.
The DSI has issued arrest warrants for eight suspects including four Chinese financiers and four Myanmar nationals, and is seeking seven others while summoning five others to face charges.
One key figure, identified by DSI as Wang Yicheng, is a suspect in a major digital fraud case filed by US police. The US Secret Service has confiscated more than $17.8 million (about 620 million baht) in crypto linked to him, linked to losses of more than 2 billion baht.
Wang, a businessman from Bangkok, had already been attracted to the American public: the Secret Service previously tracked costs from an American who committed fraud to a crypto account in his name, which the authorities linked to the “pig killing operation”.
The survey has also caught the attention of Thai officials. DSI has sent two cases to the National Anti-Corruption Commission involving seven electricity officials, a law enforcement officer, and 13 investors or suspected associates who are accused of helping miners gain power and evade detection.
The extension starts from the shot that started December is overwhen the DSI seized 3,642 devices worth $8.6 million from sites linked to Chinese scam networks operating outside Myanmar.
The crackdown marks a major Southeast Asian push against crypto-linked power theft. The Malaysian government service has it report about $1.1 billion in stolen electricity over five years, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime he warned that global criminals are increasingly using illegal crypto mining to make billions.
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