Busted: Federal Reserve employee mined bitcoin using government server
At least one employee of the U.S. Federal Reserve sees the value of bitcoin and mining for it if you get your computing power for free. Nicholas Berthaume, who is now a former employee, was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and fined $5,000 for installing unauthorized bitcoin software on a Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System server.According to a news release by the Office of Inspector General, Berthaume pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful conversion of government property.Working as a Communications Analyst, Berthaume had access to some Board computer servers. He put the computing power of a federal server to work for him. Mining is costly after all, as nowadays it tends to use more electricity than a miner earns. Unless a person has excess power from a solar farm for mining, then stealing electricity for mining is an option some people choose. You may have heard about the three men and one woman recently arrested in Venezuela for electricity theft and internet fraud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here