CVRC used its Weixin account on Sunday to publish a report detailing the late 2020 attack on bitcoin mining pool operator LuBian, which operated in Iran and China, and was targeted in an attack in which unknown parties made off with 127,272 bitcoin.
The Chinese agency claims that the owner of the stolen Bitcoin was Chen Zhi, chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Group, who “repeatedly posted messages on the blockchain in early 2021 and July 2022, calling on the hackers to return the stolen Bitcoin and offering to pay a ransom, but received no response.”
CVERC notes that whoever stole the bitcoin put it in a wallet that remained “almost untouched” for four years. The agency believes common criminals would have made money at some point, so leaving the wallet behind is a sign that a nation-state actor has hacked LuBian.
The Chinese agency’s report then jumps forward to October 14, 2025, when the US Department of Justice announced the unveiling of an indictment accusing Chen Zhi of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering “for directing Prince Group’s forced labor fraud activities throughout Cambodia.”
The DoJ has also filed a civil forfeiture suit against approximately 127,271 Bitcoin, which it says are the “proceeds and instrumentalities” of Zhi’s fraud and money laundering schemes.
According to the DoJ, the BTC was “previously stored in unhosted cryptocurrency wallets to which the defendant had possession of the private keys,” but are now in the custody of the US government.
CVERC’s document contains a forensic analysis of blockchain items indicating that the treasure of 127,271 BTC found its way to Uncle Sam.
So China and the US agree on most of the facts: someone stole BTC from Zhi and it ended up in the hands of Uncle Sam.
Yet CVERC’s document omits any mention of Zhi’s connection to fraud camps.
That’s strange because China hates the camps because many of the forced laborers who work there are Chinese nationals. The scammers are also targeting people in China and have caused significant losses. The Chinese authorities are proud of it advertised their success in dismantling scam camps, while the state media has done so enthusiastically reported death sentences imposed on camp operators.
Another peculiarity of CVERC’s statement is that it ends with advice to the Chinese blockchain community and mining pool operators to improve their security.
China is very happy that local organizations are using blockchains, but… prohibited mining and cryptocurrency trading in 2021. CVERC telling mining pool operators how to conduct their affairs seemingly goes against that policy – or perhaps reflects China’s failure to eradicate its cryptocurrency industry.
Another possible motive is that CVERC has created a story that will go down well in China, a suggestion The registry because China also consistently claims that it does not conduct malicious cyber operations. CVRC has supported this claim multiple reports claim that the US and its allies formed the Volt Typhoon gang and faked their hacking attacks purely to discredit China. ®
#China #pins #bitcoin #heist