Image via Security Service of Ukraine
UPDATED 7/19, 10:40 a.m. ET: Despite initial reports, an alternate possibility for the true intention behind the PlayStation 4 farm has now been made public.
Per a Hypebeast report, which cites a recent investigation from the Ukrainian business journal Delo, the thousands of seized consoles were not actually being used to mine crypto. Instead, at least according to the report, the operation was likely focused on farming FIFA Ultimate Team cards and coins.
See original story below.
Thousands of PlayStation 4 consoles were among the items discovered in a recent record-setting cryptofarm bust in Ukraine.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported last week that it had completed a bust of what it described as the “largest cryptofarm in Ukraine.” According to the SBU law enforcement authority, the alleged operators illegally took electricity and used “conventional means of accounting for electricity consumption” to cover their tracks.
“The attackers exchanged cryptocurrency directly in one of the former premises of JSC Vinnytsiaoblenerho,” an SBU rep said in a news release last week. “Currently, it is the largest underground crypto-farm discovered by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies: almost 5,000 units of computer equipment were seized. SBU officers established that the illegal crypto-farm was created by residents of Kyiv and Vinnytsia. They used one of the former warehouses of Vinnytsiaoblenerho JSC, which is located on the company’s industrial site.”
Image via Security Service of Ukraine
All told, the illegal mining operation is said to have facilitated the theft of nearly $260,000 in monthly electricity. Authorities said earlier this month they had seized 3,800 game consoles, more than 500 video cards, 50 processors, documents on accounting for electricity consumption, and other items ranging from phones to flash drives.
“The illegal withdrawal of electricity could lead to more global consequences—entire neighborhoods of Vinnytsia could be left without electricity,” the SBU said.
For those not interested in going too deep into the weeds with regards to studying how, exactly, a PlayStation 4 would be used in this capacity, Tom’s Hardware has a brief explainer on why—despite not being the efficient route—using the console in this fashion isn’t unprecedented.
