英国警察本想捣毁一个大麻农场，结果是个比特币矿场
英国西米德兰兹郡的警察以为他们要捣毁的是一个大麻农场，因为那里有很多可疑迹象：一天中神秘访客会在不同时间段到访，房子从外面接了电线，建有通风管道，最重要的是，警用无人机还捕捉到了显著和红外热信号。
但当他们突击搜查这处位于桑德威尔工业区的地址时，警方发现它并非大麻农场，而是一个比特币矿场。
与未经许可种植大麻和从电网窃电不同，比特币挖矿在英国并不违法。
“我们根本没有想到会是这样！”桑德维尔的警长詹妮弗•格里芬在一份声明中说。“它具有大麻种植设施的所有特征，我认为这是我们在西米德兰兹郡遇到的第二个加密货币矿场。”
这并非执法部门第一次将比特币矿场错认为是大麻农场，类似报道十年前就曾经有过。出这种岔子也实属情有可原，因为在较冷气候下种植大麻需要人工加热，而“挖掘”加密货币的高性能计算机和同样在“挖矿”的其他计算机竞相解决数学问题的过程中，也会产生大量的热。
如果能够对这些热量加以利用，人们就可以用它们来给室内取暖、加热洗澡水，种植“加密西红柿”——当然，也能够用来种植大麻。几年前，一家名为Evolution BNK的意大利医用大麻种植机构甚至为其开发的传热系统申请了专利，该系统是可以在完成加密货币挖掘的同时种植大麻，而且整个过程以太阳能为动力。
格里芬说，由于有窃电行为，西米德兰兹郡警方希望根据英国的《犯罪收益法》（Proceeds of Crime Act），永久没收桑德威尔这处设置里的加密货币采矿设备。
目前还不清楚在没有窃电的情况下，挖矿运营能够有多大的利润，因为与中国等国家相比，英国的电力成本相对较高。中国是大多数比特币挖矿的所在地，而由于加密货币采矿造成了几次大规模城市断电。此外，伊朗刚刚对加密货币挖矿施以四个月的禁令。
考虑到比特币价格在最近的暴跌，这种矿场最近几个月的受益肯定会受到影响。而且，在仔细观察了警方的行动照片后，一些观察人士在社交媒体上指出，按照目前的标准，这处矿场使用的电脑挖矿效率很低。
最近有很多加密货币挖矿消耗大量电力的头条新闻，此前，由于挖矿影响环境，特斯拉（Tesla）的首席执行官埃隆•马斯克重新考虑了公司接受比特币购车的问题，在一定程度上导致了最近比特币行情的下跌。（财富中文网）
译者：葛仲君
英国西米德兰兹郡的警察以为他们要捣毁的是一个大麻农场，因为那里有很多可疑迹象：一天中神秘访客会在不同时间段到访，房子从外面接了电线，建有通风管道，最重要的是，警用无人机还捕捉到了显著和红外热信号。
但当他们突击搜查这处位于桑德威尔工业区的地址时，警方发现它并非大麻农场，而是一个比特币矿场。
与未经许可种植大麻和从电网窃电不同，比特币挖矿在英国并不违法。
“我们根本没有想到会是这样！”桑德维尔的警长詹妮弗•格里芬在一份声明中说。“它具有大麻种植设施的所有特征，我认为这是我们在西米德兰兹郡遇到的第二个加密货币矿场。”
这并非执法部门第一次将比特币矿场错认为是大麻农场，类似报道十年前就曾经有过。出这种岔子也实属情有可原，因为在较冷气候下种植大麻需要人工加热，而“挖掘”加密货币的高性能计算机和同样在“挖矿”的其他计算机竞相解决数学问题的过程中，也会产生大量的热。
如果能够对这些热量加以利用，人们就可以用它们来给室内取暖、加热洗澡水，种植“加密西红柿”——当然，也能够用来种植大麻。几年前，一家名为Evolution BNK的意大利医用大麻种植机构甚至为其开发的传热系统申请了专利，该系统是可以在完成加密货币挖掘的同时种植大麻，而且整个过程以太阳能为动力。
格里芬说，由于有窃电行为，西米德兰兹郡警方希望根据英国的《犯罪收益法》（Proceeds of Crime Act），永久没收桑德威尔这处设置里的加密货币采矿设备。
目前还不清楚在没有窃电的情况下，挖矿运营能够有多大的利润，因为与中国等国家相比，英国的电力成本相对较高。中国是大多数比特币挖矿的所在地，而由于加密货币采矿造成了几次大规模城市断电。此外，伊朗刚刚对加密货币挖矿施以四个月的禁令。
考虑到比特币价格在最近的暴跌，这种矿场最近几个月的受益肯定会受到影响。而且，在仔细观察了警方的行动照片后，一些观察人士在社交媒体上指出，按照目前的标准，这处矿场使用的电脑挖矿效率很低。
最近有很多加密货币挖矿消耗大量电力的头条新闻，此前，由于挖矿影响环境，特斯拉（Tesla）的首席执行官埃隆•马斯克重新考虑了公司接受比特币购车的问题，在一定程度上导致了最近比特币行情的下跌。（财富中文网）
译者：葛仲君
Cops in the West Midlands of England thought they were about to bust a cannabis-growing operation. It had the telltale signs: mysterious visitors at different times of the day, visible wiring and ventilation ducts, and above all a significant heat signature, picked up by a police drone.
But when they raided the unit in a Sandwell industrial estate, the police found not a pot farm, but a Bitcoin mining operation.
That's not illegal in the U.K., unlike unlicensed cannabis cultivation—and unlike stealing power from the mains supply, which the Bitcoin miners in this case were doing.
"It’s certainly not what we were expecting!" said Sandwell Police Sergeant Jennifer Griffin in a statement. "It had all the hallmarks of a cannabis cultivation set-up and I believe it’s only the second such crypto mine we’ve encountered in the West Midlands."
Indeed, this is not the first time law enforcement has become confused between Bitcoin-mining operations and cannabis farms—reports of such mix-ups go back a decade. It's an understandable mistake to make, given the facts that cannabis needs artificial heating in colder climes and the high-performance computers that "mine" cryptocurrency, by racing rivals to complete mathematical problems, generate a lot of heat.
This heat can, if harnessed, prove useful. People have used it to warm homes, heat bathwater and grow "cryptotomatoes"—and, yes, to grow cannabis. A few years ago, an Italian medical cannabis grower called Evolution BNK even filed a patent for the heat transfer system it had developed to build combined cryptocurrency-mining and marijuana-cultivation operations, which are solar powered for good measure.
Griffin said the West Midlands Police hoped to permanently seize the Sandwell crypto-mining equipment under the U.K.'s Proceeds of Crime Act, due to the power theft.
It's not clear how profitable the mining operation could have been without stealing electricity, given the U.K.'s relatively high cost of power when compared with countries such as China—where the majority of Bitcoin mining takes place—and Iran, which has just banned cryptocurrency mining for four months due to its apparent role in causing major urban blackouts.
The profitability would certainly have taken a knock in recent months, given Bitcoin's recent loss of value. And, as some observers noted on social media after perusing the police's photos of the operation, the computers being used were inefficient by current standards.
Cryptocurrency mining's power-hungry nature has generated many headlines recently, after the environmental impact led Tesla CEO Elon Musk to reconsider his company's acceptance of Bitcoin as payment for its cars—partly causing the abovementioned drop in Bitcoin's value.
