$579K in Stolen Bitcoin Mining Computers Recovered, Man Arrested, LAPD Says

A 27-year-old Canyon Country man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing bitcoin mining computers with an estimated value of $579,000, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday.

Bryan Thola allegedly had stolen computers in his delivery van and a public storage unit, according to an LAPD news release. He was booked into the LAPD Van Nuys Jail on Thursday and released the next day on his own recognizance, inmate records show.

Photos released by Los Angeles police show piles of computers stacked inside the van and in a storage room.

Such devices are part of a broader global network of high-powered computers that run Bitcoin code to verify transactions and record them on the cryptocurrency’s blockchain — a process that involves solving complex algorithms to record a new series of transactions called a block, according to Forbes. The computers compete to add blocks to the chain, and miners are paid per block.

“Mining, or the processing of transactions, is done using extremely expensive and powerful computers whose sole function is to run algorithms that solve a mathematical problem that allows their owner to win a Bitcoin block — and earn income from it,” Richard Baker, CEO of TAAL Distributed Information Technologies, a mining and blockchain services provider, told Forbes.

It is unclear how Los Angeles police came into possession of the allegedly stolen computers.

Police did not provide any details because the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information can call the LAPD Commercial Crimes Division at 213-486-5920 between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. After hours or on weekends, the department can be reached at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Those wishing to remain anonymous can call LA Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or visit LAPDOnline.org and click on “webtips.”