Stefansson asked Matthias Karlsson to buy a vehicle, and the conscientious day care worker came through with a cheap blue van, purchased on the Icelandic version of eBay. In a pocket of his jeans they found a crudely drawn map of the Advania data center. March 6, 2018. Stefansson had been tracking the routine of the security guard who would be on duty that night. Some 11 people were arrested, including a security guard, in what Icelandic media have dubbed the "Big Bitcoin Heist." This is why I can call it my favorite case. In January of 2018, over 600 computers valued at 2 million dollars were stolen from a bitcoin mining facility in Reykjavik, Iceland. “Just one more, to get a bigger mining facility.”. To pull off the heist, Stefansson says, Mr. X assembled a motley crew of Icelandic men in their 20s, all of whom happened to know each other. A prosecutor later insisted that the page was proof of an organized crime ring, possibly international in scope—a claim that cracked the guys up. Two hours later, Stefansson was arrested by the Amsterdam police. Iceland’s now-infamous bitcoin miner thief has reportedly been arrested. “They were punishing me for not giving up the computers.”. Police question suspects in cozy “conversation” rooms decorated with soothing photographs of swans. According to prosecutors, Stefansson had leased a former fish-processing factory in northern Iceland. His wife saw fleeting figures lurking around their home. “I kept my head down as much as I could.”) By the time the alarm was sounded back at the prison, Stefansson was approaching Sweden. While the courts have concluded that Stefansson organized the heist, he insists that he was directed by the shadowy Mr. X. In their excitement, they took the fastest route: the Whale Fjord Tunnel, a 3.6-mile passage beneath the icy waters of the Hvalfjörður fjord. Along with the computers, the thieves had also taken motherboards, graphics cards, and … Stefansson and the rest of the gang might have stopped there. The night shift at the data center was the worst, the country plunged into darkness 19 hours a day by a stingy sun. Drumming up that computational power usually means lots of computers -- and thus lots of electricity. He was arrested in front of his in-laws’ house in Reykjavík, where police found his possessions loaded on a pallet in preparation for his getaway. Ólafur Helgi Kjartansson was sitting in his office in Reykjavík, belting out “Sympathy for the Devil.” In his spare time, Kjartansson follows the Rolling Stones to concerts around the world; he considers himself the band’s number one fan in Iceland. There was what he calls “the most important part of the Bitcoin world”—a consistently cold climate to keep the machines from overheating as they mine cryptocurrency 24/7. The cold weather allows for the expensive and delicate hardware you need to do this activity function more efficiently than it would in any other conditions. “The data centers didn’t want this getting out, because it could affect their talks with foreign investors,” says one observer. But the true value of the computers was far greater. This would never happen in Iceland!”. The relative, it turned out, owed money to Stefansson’s friend, Haffi the Pink. A Bitcoin mine near Keflavik, part of “the biggest burglary in THE the history of Iceland.”. This being Iceland, someone had even left a ladder nearby. Iceland police arrested 11 people who were involved in four burglaries in December and January involving the Bitcoin miners. The police, assisted by Interpol, mobilized in an international manhunt. Like most German kids, he recalls, he had only seen Iceland on TV, which glorified the frozen nation as “something from another planet.” Now, driving from the airport to the old naval base at Asbru, he encountered a “ghost town” pockmarked by “car rental places and trash yards.” To Streng, it looked like the new cryptocurrency frontier. In Iceland, it is not a crime to stage a prison break: The law recognizes that inmates, like all human beings, are naturally entitled to freedom, and thus cannot be punished for seeking it. The gang had presented him with a plan for repayment: Get Ivar to spill security details about the Advania mine and the interest on your debt will be forgiven. Why is the price of Bitcoin dropping like a stone? It was cryptocurrency, ironically, that helped save Iceland after the bankers bankrupted it. This being Iceland, someone had even left a ladder nearby. He felt he was being followed. Top, from Iceland Monitor; bottom, from Fréttabladid. Rankings. But he had made a critical error. While he had instructed his crew to delete everything from their phones, he hadn’t deleted his own messages. The woman—a feisty, 66-year-old entrepreneur—had been convinced by her two “computer nerd” sons to give them $50,000 to open the mine. “Maybe the computers have been running the whole time,” Stefansson tells me. “Something’s wrong!” he told her. Sign up for our daily Hive newsletter and never miss a story. Top, by Alex Telfer/Trunk Archive; bottom, by Andrew Testa/The New York Times/Redux. All rights reserved. (In court, the Cutie tried to use his love of tattoos as an alibi: A tattoo artist testified that Viktor had spent the entire night in bed with her.). It was the fifth cryptocurrency data center in Iceland to be hit in two months. “So I guess it’s my biggest yet.”. In Bitcoin mining, every second counts. Someone was targeting the security guard. A window was open, to cool the computers. Then, in the new millennium, Iceland’s three biggest banks found a way to get rich quick off of foreign debt. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rely on the blockchain, the name given to the public, distributed ledgers which track the coins' ownership. One wintry day, a German cryptocurrency entrepreneur named Marco Streng stepped off a plane at Keflavik International Airport. The police ran the plates and arrested Stefansson and Karlsson. Sindri Thor Stefansson, the primary suspect in the "big Bitcoin heist," said he will be bringing his 'illegal' two-and-a-half month detention to … They stole 104 Bitcoin computers, along with power sources, graphics cards, and assorted supplies. While being detained in the Borgarnes investigation, Karlsson lost his job as a day care worker. But at the time of the Big Bitcoin Heist, no one was there. “I’ve never seen violence in them. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bitcoin-heist-computers-stolen-in-iceland Only two weeks after the heist, the arrests began. Whoever cracked the code first received a Bitcoin in return—a payment, at its peak, worth $17,000 for just a few minutes of computing time. “Many Icelanders believe in elves and trolls,” says Kjartansson, the police chief. They were stealing the digital presses used to print money in the age of cryptocurrency. Over the course of two or three moonlit meetings, Gylfason told the gang everything he knew about the Advania data center: the location of the security cameras, the specifics of the anti-theft systems, how security shifts were organized. One night he awoke to find his front door open. Three of four burglaries took place in December and a fourth took place in January, but authorities did not make the news public earlier in hopes of tracking down the thieves. “The police broke down a lot of doors looking for the computers,” says Stefansson. So he and his team turned to more old-fashioned forms of technology: Using telephone data, rental car records, bank accounts, and wiretaps, they were able to connect the gang with Ivar Gylfason, the security guard they had blackmailed. Then came another gift: The motion detectors at the data center weren’t even connected to the alarm system. Thieves steal 600 powerful bitcoin-mining computers in huge heist In Iceland, police are hoping a power surge will lead them to the criminals' stash. Matthias Karlsson confessed to the Advania heist and was sentenced to two and a half years; his brother, Petur the Polish, received 18 months. Then they were gone, along with 225 Bitcoin computers: enough to open their own mine and embark on a new life in Iceland’s new economy. Large photograph by Andrew Testa/The New York Times/Redux. Then he catches himself. When he emerged, he was too weak to walk. (“We did not chat,” Stefansson later said. “We stole a purse from an old woman who was working there.” Hlynsson, who was convicted of joining his childhood friend in the Bitcoin heist, has grown into a muscular, tattoo-covered drug smuggler and money launderer known as Haffi the Pink. In what has been coined the “big bitcoin heist,” 600 computers used for bitcoin mining have been stolen from data centers across Iceland. In a speech to the Scottish Economics conference, Carney said a "global speculative mania" has "encouraged a proliferation of new cryptocurrencies" and said they should be held to the "same standards" as the rest of the financial system. He worked the night shift, which meant intermittent inspections from dusk to dawn, patrolling the grounds for any signs of trouble. THE FUGITIVES On December 5, 2018, to protect their privacy, the suspects entered the courtroom the same way they had entered the Bitcoin mines, their faces covered—in Haffi’s case, by a Louis Vuitton scarf. Bitcoin heist suspect flees Iceland on flight carrying PM: state broadcaster . The case might have ended there, an obscure series of crimes in a cold and remote country. Flooded with cash, the banks grew nearly seven times larger than the national economy. But Stefansson managed to stay one step ahead. They also descended on Stefansson, who had sold his home and was preparing to move to Spain with his wife and kids. Haffi posted the image on Instagram and tagged it #teamsindri. They raided a Bitcoin mine owned by a Russian couple they suspected of being the thieves. One of the suspects has now fled the country to Sweden, although it … But the gang was learning as they went. On the day after Christmas, cell phone records show, the gang drove together to the former naval base at Asbru to try their luck at hitting the Borealis Data Center a second time. Then, once again, Stefansson screwed up. Then Stefansson got a call from someone he had studied computer science with at the university. Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. But “the judge did not extend the custody temporarily.”, The prison staff advised Stefansson that, technically, he was a free man: The order had expired at 4 p.m. and would not be extended until the next day. “There is a mine in there,” the friend told Stefansson. Some 11 people were arrested, including a security guard, in what Icelandic media have dubbed the "Big Bitcoin Heist." Icelandic media have dubbed the crime the “big bitcoin heist” and the thieves could potentially make more money if they use the computers to mine the cryptocurrency and then sell it. REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Some 600 computers used to "mine" bitcoin and other virtual currencies have been stolen from data centers in Iceland in what police say is the biggest series of thefts ever in the North Atlantic island nation. They plowed their paper profits into foreign assets—real estate, fashion brands, soccer teams—only to go bust in the global financial crash of 2008. FILE PHOTO: A copy of bitcoin standing on … Authorities this week called on local internet providers, electricians and storage space units to report any unusual requests for power. Born and raised in the small town of Akureyri, he committed his first breaking and entering in kindergarten, smashing a window at school and reaching inside to open the door. One night in late 2017, a man named Ivar Gylfason received a strange phone call. CASH MACHINES Today, Bitcoin mines consume more energy than all of Iceland’s homes combined. In that moment, he says, he experienced the adrenaline high he would spend his life chasing. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Some 600 computers used to "mine" bitcoin and other virtual currencies have been stolen from data centers in Iceland in … Finally, there was the boss of the operation—although who, exactly, that was remains a matter of dispute. “All the proofs lay on the table,” the chief says. Iceland was rich in everything that Streng needed to mine Bitcoins. They fanned out in squad cars, boats, and helicopters. Not even a connection. The ‘Big Bitcoin Heist’ further confirms that bitcoin miners need to keep data facilities secure and maintain a tight ship. They were stealing the presses that print digital money. “We couldn’t follow the money,” Kjartansson says. “We were so surprised! The alarm sounded, and they fled. "Being part of the financial system brings enormous privileges, but with them great responsibilities," Carney said. “You’re stealing machines that make money,” he remembers thinking. In his teens, Stefansson graduated to drugs: pot, speed, cocaine, ecstasy, LSD. He won’t say who it was or how they met—only that it came through a “messenger somewhere.” The man, a mysterious and dangerous international investor who became known as Mr. X, told Stefansson that his plans were crap. Finally, around 10 p.m., he jumped into his car and sped home, rushing straight to the bathroom. “I was failing as the provider for my family,” he would later say. Traders searching for cheap, renewable energy have been flooding into the island in recent months to take advantage of its geothermal and hydroelectric power plants. According to Reykjavik police, over 600 computers used to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have disappeared from their data centers, and over 11 arrests have already been made. They also conversed on a Facebook page called Foruneytid, Icelandic for “the Fellowship,” a reference to Lord of the Rings. Genesis Farming, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mines, in the data center near Reykjavík. When the banks defaulted on $85 billion in debt, Iceland’s currency collapsed and unemployment soared. Only Stefansson chose to show his face to the cameras. One night at his keyboard, in the summer of 2017, Stefansson says he made a connection that would transform both him and his country. "This is a grand theft on a scale unseen before," said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, the police commissioner on the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, where two of the burglaries took place. Stefansson was thrown in solitary for a month and grilled repeatedly by police, who pressured him to reveal the location of the stolen computers. “Are you a security guard at the Advania data center?” the caller demanded. There was also an image of what police would later claim was Jonasson’s tattooed left forearm. Ad Choices. I’m not going to pretend.” Now, she and her sons raced to the mine. If he did not comply, they told him, he would be hurt. The thieves weren’t robbing banks. But making money in cryptocurrency requires size and speed: It takes a lot of computing power to solve and package data, and the only people who get paid are the ones who crack the complex equations first. This is Iceland’s “Big Bitcoin Heist”, and it’s still breaking news. The friend was working as an electrician in the small town of Borgarnes, on Iceland’s western coast, and he had noticed something strange. But for now, Mick and Keith would have to wait: As one of the country’s most illustrious police chiefs, Kjartansson was in charge of cracking the case of the Big Bitcoin Heist. On January 16, 2018, the job commenced. “We didn’t have anything else on them,” the detective says, “so they were released.”, But the Bitcoin thieves were far from finished. The criminals weren’t robbing banks, or even Fort Knox. The walls are covered with images of the Northern Lights and the buds of Icelandic flowers poking up through the snowy tundra. He also provided the thieves with guard uniforms and the alarm code. Major crime is almost nonexistent; in 2018, there was only one murder in all of Iceland. The mine was only six days old. The warehouse at the local AVK Data Center suddenly needed more electricity—a lot more electricity—for something called Bitcoin. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Iceland Tag - CoinGeek. Led by Sindri Thor Stefansson, the men behind Iceland’s Big Bitcoin Heist managed to escape with a $500,000 haul in hardware alone, Mark Seal reported in a recent Vanity Fair feature. Almost half of 2020 college grads still looking for work, Deadly arrest of Black man seen in bodycam video, Texas carries out first execution in 10 months, FBI: Capitol rioters hit cops with metal knuckles, baton, Penn State to remove terms "sophomore" and "freshman", Dancers seek to rid ballet performances of Asian stereotypes, Maya Angelou and Sally Ride to be honored on quarters, Stacey Abrams on writing herself into the story – and history, LA nonprofit supports young photographers, Woman receives gift of motherhood after cancer diagnosis, Taiwan, long a COVID success story, sees record surge in cases, Israel's Iron Dome has blocked thousands of incoming rockets, Hamas lays down its terms as calls for a cease-fire get louder, Famed Darwin's Arch collapses due to erosion in Galapagos Islands, Village under water for decades emerging from an Italian lake, California Privacy/Information We Collect. “There was a contract security service, but they didn’t walk around.”. “Great, this is perfect,” Haffi the Pink texted. It clearly showed the used blue van Karlsson had bought. Five days later, on December 10, the Borealis Data Center told police that someone had tried and failed to break into their facility at Asbru, attempting to disable the alarm by gluing the security sensors. Braced against the arctic cold on this January evening, the security guard was feeling sicker by the minute. And in return for their work, they generated vast fortunes for their owners. Weeks later 31-year-old Sindri Stefansson was caught and sent to a low-level prison. “Suddenly,” Streng says, “there were fans on the roofs of other buildings down the road”—a sure sign of mining operations. On the night of December 5, 2017, as flurries of sleet and snow buffeted Iceland, Stefansson and his crew broke into the Algrim Consulting data center at Asbru. “It’s the biggest burglary in the history of Iceland,” Stefansson boasts of the Bitcoin heist. For years, the country’s economy was centered around fishing and aluminum smelting. What came back was…nothing. He called headquarters and was told to wait for backup. Bitcoin is a kind of digital money that isn't tied to a bank or a government. First there was the brawn: Matthias Jon Karlsson, a quiet, husky guy who worked in a home for special-needs kids, and his younger brother, Petur Stanislav, nicknamed “the Polish.” Next, the beauty: Viktor “the Cutie” Ingi Jonasson, a good-looking guy with a degree as a systems administrator. That desire for energy has created a gold rush for bitcoin in Iceland. They met at a friend’s house in Reykjavík to go over the plans. "Everything points to this being a highly organized crime.". “There was no security,” a guard tells me. His job was to keep watch over two hangar-like buildings that held rows of small, box-like computers, the size of two cartons of cigarettes, stacked in towers as far as the eye could see. Then, according to police, there were the brains: Stefansson’s childhood friend and brother-in-crime, Haffi the Pink, a seasoned drug smuggler with a long rap sheet, who helped organize the jobs from where he was living in Thailand and Spain. His rap sheet soon included 200 cases of petty crime. They just don’t get it.” But Stefansson saw it for what it was: the perfect crime. Then he and Jonasson stacked 28 brand-new “money machines” into their waiting van and raced away. By chance, Stefansson was on the same flight as Katrin Jakobsdottir, the prime minister of Iceland, who was sitting a few rows in front of him. The alarm system hadn’t yet arrived. By Reuters Staff. He started a string of businesses: creating websites for car rental companies, selling protein pills online, even leasing warehouses to expand his marijuana crop. The total take: $2 million in tech gear. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. His dog barked in the middle of the night. Stefansson denied any involvement in the heists. Determined to turn his life around, he got married, took a job driving a postal truck, and graduated with a degree in computer science from the University of Iceland, where he was voted Prankster of the Year. 2 Min Read. “It was not like the old days, when I was younger and doing it for fun, adrenaline. Looking for more? “I wanted to start Bitcoin mining,” he says, “because it is very similar to growing cannabis. “I am proud of him for standing up for his rights and protesting that he was illegally held in jail,” says Stefansson’s accomplice, Viktor “the Cutie” Jonasson. On Friday, it was trading just below the $11,000 mark. From Sweden, he traveled to Denmark, then to Germany by train, and finally to Amsterdam by car. “I shouldn’t say no security,” he adds hastily. The total prison population for the entire country seldom rises above 180. “It’s just amazing that there are computers that make money,” he says. There wasn’t much to see. Because a robbery of a few hundred machines will cost a bitcoin mining operation a ton of money. “They were rough!” Stefansson says. REYKJAVIK, Iceland — It has been more than four months since thieves pulled off the biggest heist in the history of Iceland, and the police here … “I just wish I had done it.”, — How one industry is bleeding Wall Street dry of talent— Ronan Farrow’s producer reveals how NBC killed its Weinstein story— Ivanka’s $360 million deal is raising eyebrows at the FBI— The big turn for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign— Why a leading neurocriminologist left Joker completely stunned— The Fox News movie’s uncanny depictions of the network’s drama— From the Archive: The real-life story of the security guard turned bombing suspect at the heart of Clint Eastwood’s latest movie. The Bitcoin ledger is powered by "miners," so-called because they throw computational power into the system, occasionally receiving -- or "mining" -- new bitcoins in return.
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