A Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur in Inner Mongolia reportedly lost millions of dollars when nearly 200 stray cats, seeking the warmth emanating from video card mining, ruined equipment in his workshop.
The cats were found cuddling inside a private mining facility in Inner Mongolia, according to the Storytime Facebook page.
Employees told reporters that the stray cats appeared near the facility during the cold season in early October, seeking shelter and heat from working mining equipment. Within weeks, the cat population had grown to around 200, turning the cryptocurrency mining center into an unintentional cat sanctuary.
Every time the animal slept on the machine, it taxed the graphics card’s output. This reduced hash rates and required expensive hardware upgrades.
“While cute and touching, these ‘beds’ cost literally millions of dollars,” one employee told Storytime, explaining that the presence of the animals caused overheating.
The mining rig has been turned into a cat shelter.
The farm’s owner, described by the workers as a lifelong animal lover, decided to take them in. “Fortunately, the man who owns these machines is a cat lover,” one employee said. “He purchased over 200 heating mats and we were instructed to place them in a separate room for the cats.”
An improvised shelter was set up adjacent to the main mining hole, complete with insulated walls and bedding to keep the cats warm. “Cats are the only animals that have disrupted the crypto nonsense because I think it’s so beautiful. It’s the backbone of internet culture,” said one X user.
Finally, a decent way to use cryptocurrency pic.twitter.com/3FMbvj1XUD
— Equine Dentist (@equine__dentist) November 10, 2025
According to Coinwarz statistics, the current mining difficulty of the Bitcoin network is timed. 155.97 trillion hashes per second (155.97 T), so miners have to perform an average of about 155.97 trillion hash calculations to find a block. Each mining rig uses 1.5 to 3.3 kilowatts of electricity, which equates to a heat release of approximately 54 to 82 °C, just the amount of heat required to survive the 0 to 16 °C cold of Inner Mongolia for a few dozen cats.
Despite the damage, workers say the cats are now well cared for and have become a permanent feature of the site. “The cats are now part of the family. The mining rig may be quiet, but at least they’re warm,” mused one engineer.
Mining in prohibited areas
Cryptocurrency mining has officially started prohibited In Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2021, the region’s Development and Reform Commission declared a crackdown on virtual currency mining and related digital asset operations. The commission said violators could face license revocation and social credit fines if they are found to be participating in or cooperating with mining operations, Reuters reported.
Inner Mongolia was once a world powerhouse in Bitcoin mining, accounting for about 8% of the world’s hashing power at the time, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Power Consumption Index.
However, the Chinese government’s push for carbon neutrality and financial risk management has led to the introduction of regulations around mainland China and Inner Mongolia. The Chinese government has issued a stern warning to crypto-mining telecommunications and internet companies, with new digital coin projects explicitly banned.
China’s State Council, led by Vice Premier Liu He, vowed to “resolutely prevent and manage financial risks” posed by digital currencies. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region responded to the directive by pledging to “clean up” its mining sector to clean up the big data industry.
Bitcoin hacking accusation battle between China and the US
The cat incident occurred against the backdrop of tensions between China and the United States over digital assets and cybersecurity earlier this week. Beijing’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center has accused Washington of orchestrating a massive Bitcoin theft from a China-linked mining pool known as LuBian.
According to Chinese officials, quoted According to Cryptopolitan, US state-sponsored hackers allegedly stole 127,272 Bitcoins worth approximately $13 billion from LuBian in December 2020. The agency claimed that the “national-level hacker operation” was the work of the US government, and that US authorities later seized the stolen tokens in a separate money laundering case involving Cambodian businessman Cheng Gyi.
The US Department of Justice has apparently filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit to seize 127,271 Bitcoins, but has refused to explain how it gained control of the tokens.