China Accuses U.S. of Stealing LuBian’s 127,000 Bitcoin — Who Holds the True Ownership?
Did U.S. authorities truly confiscate 127,000 Bitcoin as illicit gains, or were they derived from the LuBian mining pool?
Summary
- The Chinese mining pool LuBian began operations in spring 2020 and quickly became the sixth-largest mining pool worldwide, only to cease operations in February 2021.
- It was not until 2025 that Arkham Intelligence disclosed that 127,272 BTC had been stolen from LuBian in December 2020, constituting 90% of its total BTC assets.
- Following this, the Department of Justice claimed that these bitcoins were confiscated from Price Group, an organization in Cambodia implicated in forced labor.
- In January 2025, Donald Trump asserted that the U.S. would never divest its bitcoins. According to Arkham Intelligence, the U.S. presently holds 326,588 BTC, including the 127,272 BTC claimed by China.
Claims from China
A report by Global Times and PANews indicates that CVERC accused the U.S. government of facilitating the 2020 theft of over 127,000 bitcoins from the LuBian mining pool.
At current valuations, these bitcoins exceed $13.1 billion, significantly overshadowing the $1.5 billion Bybit heist that occurred in March 2025. At the time of the December 2020 theft, the stolen BTC was worth over $3.5 billion, still exceeding the Bybit hack’s record.
Until June 2024, the loot remained untouched in the hacker’s addresses for four years before being moved to addresses under U.S. control. PANews interprets this as evidence of state-sponsored theft, while the Global Times cites CVERC claiming it as a typical conflict among thieves, alleging the U.S. was responsible for the 2020 heist.
Arkham Intelligence uncovered the hack in August 2025, noting that the “stolen” assets were later found in BTC wallets under U.S. jurisdiction. CVERC was the first to claim that these bitcoins were legally mined by LuBian and subsequently hijacked by U.S.-backed hackers.
Prior to these allegations from China, crypto investigator ZachXBT suggested that the LuBian hack was executed “on behalf of the U.S. government.”
In contrast, the U.S. narrative presents a decidedly different version of events.
The DOJ Report
In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice connected the hack to a criminal enterprise called Prince Group, led by Chen Zhi.
The DOJ claims that Prince Group was involved in a conspiracy of wire fraud and human trafficking, stating in a press release that they deceived individuals in the U.S. and other nations using a “pig butchering” fraud scheme.
The DOJ indictment specifically names LuBian as one of the money laundering operations used by Prince Group, indicating that only 30% of the funds associated with LuBian came from legitimate Bitcoin mining.
CVERC contends that initial findings contradict the claim that LuBian’s Bitcoin originates from illegal activities.
The Sequence of Events
The timeline of the LuBian Bitcoin seizure is complex, with reports emerging over several years. Here’s a chronological recap:
April 2020: The LuBian mining pool successfully mines its initial bitcoins.
May 2020: LuBian claims 6% of the global hashrate.
December 28, 2020: An unknown hacker successfully steals over 127,000 bitcoins from LuBian through brute force.
July 3, 2022: A LuBian representative sends a portion of BTC to the alleged hacker’s address, including a plea in an OP_RETURN message for the return of funds and mention of potential rewards. Many similar requests were made between 2021 and 2024.
August 2023: Milky Sad researchers identify vulnerabilities in addresses associated with LuBian.
April 2024: Milky Sad reports that LuBian’s private keys were created using a pseudo-random number generator, indicating they were weak enough to be brute-forced in just a few days with a gaming computer.
June 2024: The “stolen” funds are moved to a new address, where most remain today.
October 14, 2025: The DOJ files criminal charges against Chen Zhi and Price Group, announcing the largest forfeiture in history. The U.S. claims it has seized over 127,000 BTC from Prince Group.
November 9, 2025: China accuses the U.S. of carrying out a state-sponsored theft of LuBian’s bitcoins.
Do These Bitcoins Belong to the U.S.?
In the wake of the DOJ’s announcement regarding the forfeiture of 127,000 BTC, various crypto influencers combined this amount with the 198,000 BTC the U.S. reportedly held at that time. The resulting total of 326,000 BTC corresponds with Arkham Intelligence’s findings, primarily based on their investigations.
With no official figures or audits of U.S. holdings publicly available, Arkham’s analysis stands as the most dependable source regarding the BTC held by the U.S.
Despite Trump’s prohibition on the sale of U.S. bitcoins, seized assets typically arise from criminal activities, and the DOJ may push for these assets to be returned to their rightful owners.
The DOJ has already recommended the return of 94,000 BTC stolen from Bitfinex to the exchange, with Attorney Generals Pamela Bondi and Todd Blanche declaring that “the United States will employ every available tool to assist victims and recover stolen assets.”
This implies that while the U.S. may control 326,000 bitcoins, ownership of these coins might be subject to change in the future, despite intentions to retain them.
