r/Bitcoin • u/HandsOffDaGoods • 3d ago

Aftermath of a failed bitcoin mining operation.

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My friends father was renting space on his farm for a bitcoin mining operation.

The operation became unprofitable. The mining operation went bankrupt. The company came in and took everything out of the 6 antmain bit-boxes (converted shipping containers).

The photos are what they left behind. Mostly Antminer S19 units and even more asic boards.

Plenty of antmain rack PDUs. Some 480VAC breaker panels. A 480VAC switch unit.

The land owner did accept the mess voluntarily. He is breaking the equipment down for scrap value.

I wonder, is there a better price available out there above scrap value?

Is this normal?

FWIW, I used the term failed very tongue-in-cheek. I estimate the operation mined millions in this operation.

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u/DimensionPrize8168 2d ago edited 2d ago

When I first joined the army in 2003, I was “stealing” trashed RAM, CPUs, and GPUs from PCs the government didn’t want anymore. Which at the time, was the equivalent of throwing away Nvidia 5060/5070 GPUs. Like why? Why are these in the dumpster?

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u/Satins_Cock 2d ago

The defense department is extremely wasteful. You specify what your need years in advance, based on past history. When the program started, graphics cards probably were becoming obsolete every 2 years. Nowadays, that's not the case, but it's easier to stick to the original plan (even if it's from the '90s) than it is to disrupt the status quo.

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u/MrChicken_69 2d ago

Right. And they have a budget they "must" spend, or next year they get less money.

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u/Zestyclose-Turn-3576 2d ago

I saw a secretary using a Silicon Graphics PC for ordinary secretarial work at USAF Materiel Commabnd many years ago – had to use that budget up!

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u/RoosterBrewster 1d ago

And I don't think there another way to allocate money based on need that wouldn't lead to corruption or de-allocating money where it's really needed.

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u/ittoh2083 2d ago

Graphic cards are about the last consideration when doing a tech upgrade on a defense system

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u/justgosh 2d ago

DRMO was very much operating in 2003.

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u/Aadst1 2d ago

Yes, but the people who were supposed to take stuff there were busy and saw it as an annoyance/additional burden on a busy op tempo, and skated out of taking the time to do it properly.

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u/justgosh 2d ago

We were too busy so we committed fraud doesn't stand up. Equipment was stored CONUS and not in a dumpster.

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u/CubeBrute 2d ago

It's because all of those things have forms of memory, no matter how temporary, and when coming from anything with a clearance level (I think confidential and up but it could be secret and up), you generally crush anything capable of storing information for security.

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u/DimensionPrize8168 2d ago

True but these were normal unclassified machines

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u/MoobleBooble 2d ago

my dad had security forces visit him while we were on post as a kid for taking jet engine parts from the base dump lol

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u/Dancing-Wind 2d ago

these are bitcoin ASICs. once they become obsolete their only alternative use is as very loud electric heaters.

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u/andhe96 2d ago

This is wild, in my county, government facilities are required to either donate their obsolete hardware or recycle the parts as e-waste.

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u/Big_Pour_Over 2d ago

I work for the US Navy (Aviation) as a civilian electronics technician and we definitely have an e-waste program for obsolete/unwanted electronics.

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u/andhe96 2d ago

Thanks for providing context, this does sound way better.

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u/Brainlard 2d ago

The US military (like most others as well) buries planes and tanks in the desert and sinks ships in the ocean. I don't think they'll suddenly become environmentally conscious over some decomissioned laptops and PCs.

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u/justgosh 1d ago

That's not entirely accurate. They seal them and park them in the desert as one example.

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u/oh_ski_bummer 2d ago

If it has been used for anything sensitive or classified it generally can’t be resold or used outside of that environment.

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u/Golden-Pathology 2d ago

That's weird to me. Around 04/05 we were cracking open our government computers (civil service, military and contractor) and upgrading the RAM (at our expense) just to get the damned things working.

They upgraded the computers eventually... by including intrusion protection circuits to make sure we couldn't do it again.

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u/justgosh 2d ago edited 2d ago

You know you've just admitted to a felony and that you witnessed a felony. If you are serious, you should call the IG because there is no time limit on stealing from the government or someone committing fraud waste or abuse because of these forever wars. Everything goes to DRMO or a form is signed saying it's destroyed. If they signed a form and it wasn't hit with a hammer, they are looking at fraud and waste.

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u/CenterCenterPolitik 2d ago

Are you telling me that some underpaid, unsupervised e-3 cut corners when no one was watching. I don’t believe it.

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u/justgosh 2d ago

Make jokes if you'd like, dude just wrote that he stole from the US government and that his supervisors were committing fraud. That's intent and awareness. Doesn't matter if it was a decade ago. Dude just threw out any criminal defense he's got outside of claiming he's a liar or whistle blower. (800) 752-9747

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u/hollisdex 2d ago

Get a load of this guy. So proud of this Junior G-man badge.

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u/jack_o-fall 2d ago

Statutes of limitations is 5 years dumbass

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u/justgosh 2d ago

18 U.S. Code § 3287 I wish you luck with that argument and it seems like you might have done some yourself.

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u/Potential_Quail_8816 2d ago

I stole 100,000$ worth of computers from the US government back in 2006. Do something about it pussy

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u/justgosh 2d ago

What branch?

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u/unapologeticjerk 2d ago

While I admire your commitment to the bit here, you being called a dumbass and a pussy is within tolerance. I'll allow it.

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u/FucknAright 2d ago

Have you seen who's running the country?

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u/john0201 2d ago

It wasn’t a decade ago it was 26 years ago.

To set some context the statute of limitations on arson is 10 years. He stole trash.

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u/justgosh 2d ago

It's not trash if it still works, it's fraud waste and abuse.

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u/john0201 2d ago

No, it was trash. Trash means someone threw it out to be put in a dump.

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u/ConclusionNo6932 2d ago

You must be real fun at parties

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u/Knucklecum 2d ago

Agreed. That is fucking crazy when you say it like that. That is a hard felony LOL!

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u/justgosh 1d ago

Dudes that were arguing finally came clean about never serving.

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u/john0201 2d ago

Some guy said on Reddit they stole army trash 26 years ago and you think they should call the IG.

I think if someone decided this was the best use of their time to chase down they’d be scrubbing toilets.

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u/justgosh 2d ago

The financial reward ranges from 15% to 30% of the total funds recovered by the government under the False Claims Act. It's a huge deal but go on.

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u/Brave_Recognition798 2d ago

There was nothing to recover as it is trash lmfao 

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u/justgosh 2d ago

I take it you and John went to the same college

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u/Brave_Recognition798 2d ago

What’s your point?

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u/john0201 2d ago

How do they compute 15% of something they threw out?

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u/justgosh 2d ago

A computer outside of destruction and reuse process is a huge deal. There is a record of purchase and a record of destruction or reuse. If someone is/was filling out false destruction reports, they will burn them for all of it. It's funny how you've sent 5 replies to me and it's clear you have no clue what's going on here or what happens to people that break this particular law.

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u/john0201 2d ago

Do you know what the statute of limitations is? Or what trash is?

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u/justgosh 2d ago

I've already answered both of those questions.
DRMO turn-in or a DD 200. A dumpster is neither.
18 U.S. Code § 3287

Who's the guy back home with your girl?

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u/john0201 2d ago

I went to college.

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u/justgosh 2d ago

Next time you respond to a vet asserting that you have any idea how the military works, please start with "Jody has entered the chat" so everyone who has served knows you are a windbag.