Last week, China’s cybersecurity agency officially accused state actors including the United States of being behind the 2020 hack of a Bitcoin mining pool called Lubian. According to a report in bloombergThe hack led to the theft of 127,272 Bitcoins from the mining pool, which is currently worth about $13 billion,
A bitcoin mining pool An entity that aggregates hashing power from multiple miners to increase the frequency of new revenue coming through blocks and their discovery. related awards,
The direct link between the US and the Bitcoin theft is unclear, but the Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center claims that the fact that the hacker sat on the stolen funds for so long points to state-level involvement. Chinese authorities, and anyone connected to the Bitcoin network for that matter, are able to track the movements of stolen funds on the blockchain, because all that data is public.
According to the US government, the Bitcoin in question is actually linked to a massive pig slaughtering scandal involving Chen Ze, the chairman of Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, which also involved forced labor.
Pig slaughter scams are a method of tricking a victim into investing in a fraudulent investment scheme after earning their trust over time, usually through a romantic online relationship. Various forms of crypto are commonly used in these scams, as transactions are irreversible, although funds can be deposited or retrieved more easily when stablecoins are involved.
US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment Chain claimed just last month that 127,272 Bitcoins were seized as part of a related asset-seizure process. According to the DOJ, it was the largest asset seizure in US history.
As detailed in the indictment, the Lubian mining pool was allegedly a method used by Chen and his associates to launder the funds generated from their illegal activities, as newly-minted Bitcoin comes with a clean track record.
Some US Bitcoin enthusiasts wondered whether these seized assets would eventually find their way into the potential Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, which Trump said he would establish while campaigning for president at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Although the exploration of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was initiated by executive order earlier this year, it has not yet happened, and forecast market Polymarket currently sees it likely happening this year. 3% After reaching a peak of nearly 77% in March. The Trump administration’s priorities when it comes to Bitcoin and crypto, thanks to the recent pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and other crypto-related activities Have come under greater scrutiny,
Most interestingly, the wallet address listed in the US government seizure of $14B (127K BTC) was named in the Milky Way report 2 years ago for containing vulnerable private keys and now the USG says they have custody of them. https://t.co/sHNwMXhLKH pic.twitter.com/icLWKU33kC
– ZachXBT (@zachxbt) 14 October 2025
It is unclear what exactly happened with these bitcoins and how the US government obtained them at this time, as blockchain analysts have different opinions on what actually happened here. Connor Grogan as Coinbase Director stated on x“I realize it sounds weird because [I’m] to deny what is actually there [U.S. government] In that document it is saying, it is just [doesn’t] Understand a lot though.”
Whether the allegations made by China against the US are true or not, there is clearly a growing cyber war between these two great powers, often referred to as the Second Cold War.
For example, 60 Minutes ran a story last month on China’s targeting of local infrastructure in the United States with the aim of gaining an advantage during a hypothetical heated war between the two countries. There have also been long-standing concerns regarding potential backdoors created by the technology huawei and other Chinese companies.
America has also played its role in the increasing global cyber warfare incident. Allegedly behind the Stuxnet hacking conspiracy The crackdown against Iran’s nuclear program seemed like it came straight from a James Bond or Jason Bourne movie.
If Bitcoin continues to grow as a trusted, digital reserve asset around the world, it is likely that it and other crypto assets will continue to play an important role in this growing battle for cyber supremacy. Unfortunately, this has been a major area of focus and success for the North Korean regime as a related Lazarus Group Has been believed or accused of being behind several crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks over the past few years.
However, no official charges have been filed against Lazarus Group At least $120 million worth of crypto was involved in an exploit on DeFi protocol Balancer last week,