Elliptic experts report on the largest Bitcoin theft in the US, worth $15 billion.

Elliptic analysts noted that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the largest cryptocurrency seizure in history, seizing 127,271 bitcoins worth approximately $15 billion. Experts believe the funds are linked to the activities of the Prince Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi, who is accused of running a network of fraudulent camps in Cambodia. However, a new investigation has revealed that the origins of these assets may be much more complex.

According to data from analytics firm Elliptic, the confiscated bitcoins were stolen back in December 2020 from LuBian, a large mining operation operating in China and Iran. At the time, the organization controlled approximately 6% of the global Bitcoin network hashrate, but abruptly ceased operations in early 2021 following a major hack.

Arkham Intelligence previously disclosed details of the incident, stating that hackers gained access to 127,426 BTC due to a vulnerability in the cryptographic key generation algorithm. Following the hack, LuBian representatives attempted to recover the digital funds by sending hundreds of microtransactions with messages like “Please return our money, we will pay a reward,” but to no avail.

The stolen bitcoins remained untouched for over three years. They were only moved to new wallets in June 2024. These movements are now linked to an investigation by the US Department of Justice, whose representatives stated that these assets are in the custody of an institution. The agency believes that the BTC were used by Prince Group to launder funds obtained from online fraud.

The indictment against Chen Zhi alleges that Prince Group used legitimate business structures to conceal its sources of income, including cryptomining. This allowed the company to produce “clean” bitcoins, separated from criminal proceeds. One such entity may have been LuBian, registered as an independent mining company.

Elliptic emphasized that it remains unclear how exactly US authorities gained access to the stolen digital coins. The seizure of LuBian bitcoins represents the largest digital asset seizure in history.

Source: cryptonews.net