USDChina Alleges U.S. Took Control of $13.2 B in Bitcoin from 2020 Mining-Pool Hack
Cybersecurity Watchdog Claims Washington Seized 127,000 BTC Once Tied to Cambodian Businessman
TL;DR
- China’s cybersecurity agency accuses the U.S. of unlawfully seizing 127,272 BTC—worth $13.2 billion—from a 2020 mining-pool breach.
- The coins, linked to businessman Chen Zhi, allegedly moved to U.S. government-tagged wallets after four years of dormancy.
- Washington frames the holdings as a legal forfeiture, while Beijing calls it state-level hacking amid rising tension over crypto asset control.
China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) has accused the United States of taking control of roughly 127,272 bitcoins, alleging that Washington effectively “stole” $13.2 billion in digital assets connected to a 2020 breach of the LuBian mining pool. The watchdog says its investigation traces the episode back to December 29, 2020, when LuBian’s servers were compromised, resulting in the disappearance of the massive bitcoin trove—then valued at about $3.5 billion. CVERC contends the funds were tied to Chen Zhi, also known as Vincent Chen, a Cambodian entrepreneur and chairman of the Prince Group, whom U.S. prosecutors later accused of running crypto-fraud and “pig-butchering” operations.
The agency’s report claims those bitcoins lay dormant across several wallets from 2021 to 2024 before being transferred in mid-2024 to blockchain addresses tagged by analytics firms as belonging to the U.S. government. Analysts at Arkham Intelligence and Elliptic reportedly confirmed overlap between those wallets and the addresses named in a U.S. Department of Justice forfeiture filing linked to Chen’s network. CVERC argues the activity pattern—four years of silence followed by large movements into government-associated wallets—fits state seizure more than criminal laundering. It further asserts the U.S. “may have already stolen the 127,000 bitcoins through hacking techniques back in 2020,” calling the incident a “typical ‘black-eats-black’ operation orchestrated by a state-level hacking organization.”
The U.S. Justice Department described the assets differently, labeling them proceeds from illicit investment and romance-fraud schemes operated by Chen’s entities. In October 2025, federal officials announced what they called the largest asset forfeiture in the department’s history, involving the same set of coins. About $2 billion worth of bitcoin reportedly shifted to new custody wallets roughly a week later, coinciding with the DOJ’s statement. TRM Labs, an American blockchain-intelligence firm, confirmed that the funds originated from 25 unhosted wallets controlled by Chen as of 2020. Angela Ang, TRM’s Asia-Pacific policy chief, noted that while the reason for the mid-2024 transfers remains unclear, “the next major movement of these funds were between June and July 2024.”
CVERC’s narrative implies Washington had possession of the coins for more than a year before any legal filing and withheld details on how it gained access. Chinese state-owned media framed the episode as evidence of U.S. overreach in the digital-asset domain, casting it as another flashpoint in the countries’ technology rivalry. U.S. authorities have not publicly addressed the allegation of hacking, maintaining that the coins were seized through lawful investigative means.
The dispute highlights how sovereign control over blockchain assets is emerging as a new arena of geopolitical friction. Beyond the legal debate, market observers point out that $13 billion in seized bitcoin represents a material figure within the global coin market cap and could subtly influence the broader crypto price index if liquidated or moved again. For investors tracking crypto price trends, the saga underscores the growing intersection of law enforcement, state cybersecurity operations, and digital-asset custody—a convergence reshaping how global powers project influence in the crypto economy.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
