Bitcoin Headlines: China Claims US Stole 127,000 BTC in Major Digital Currency Heist
China Claims U.S. Pilfered 127K BTC in Prominent Crypto Breach
CVERC asserts the intrusion was executed by a "hacking group of national caliber" and implies the U.S. confiscation was linked to a wider campaign involving the same perpetrators.
By Francisco Rodrigues, AI Boost|Edited by Nikhilesh DeUpdated Nov 11, 2025, 2:06 p.m. Published Nov 11, 2025, 9:38 a.m.
What to know:
- The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) of China is accusing the U.S. administration of appropriating 127,000 plundered bitcoin (valued at $13 billion), initially compromised in 2020 from a Chinese digital currency mining collective.
- CVERC contended that the breach was carried out by a "state-sponsored hacking organization" and posited the U.S. confiscation as an element of a more expansive undertaking involving the same aggressors.
- The U.S. government refuted the allegations of CVERC, asserting that the confiscation was a valid law enforcement measure targeting illicit gains, while China perceives it as a provocative action intensifying strains between the two countries.
A Chinese cybersecurity monitoring entity is blaming the U.S. government for involvement in a significant digital currency theft, escalating tensions surrounding a long-standing enigma involving 127,000 purloined bitcoin, currently worth approximately $13 billion.
China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) issued a technical assessment Sunday alleging the U.S. Department of Justice seized BTC that had been initially filched in a 2020 intrusion aimed at the LuBian mining collective.
Previously, the compromised coins were connected to Chen Zhi, the head of Cambodia’s Prince Group, who is presently facing a U.S. indictment for purportedly orchestrating a large-scale digital currency fraudulent scheme.
The assessment delineates a chronology intimating that the breach was implemented using sophisticated instruments, alluding to the involvement of a “hacking group of national caliber.” That information comes from the Global Times, a Chinese government-owned publication connected with the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, the People’s Daily.
For almost four years, the misappropriated bitcoin remained untouched, and the breach largely went unnoticed.
Subsequently, in mid-2024, the hidden funds were discreetly moved to fresh digital wallets. The blockchain analytics firm Arkham later classified these wallets as belonging to the U.S. government.
CVERC’s analysis contests the U.S. depiction that the funds were illicit gains. Instead, the agency suggests that the confiscation might have been the concluding action in a protracted undertaking involving the same attackers responsible for the initial theft.
The U.S. insists that the confiscation was a lawful law enforcement measure.
CoinDesk has contacted the U.S. Treasury and Department of Justice seeking a response but had not obtained one as of press time.
