Arkham Intelligence has revealed details of what it believes to be one of the largest single crypto thefts in history — a December 2020 hack that drained 127,426 BTC from Chinese mining pool LuBian.
At the time, the stolen coins were valued at roughly $3.5 billion; today, they’re worth nearly $14.5 billion.
LuBian emerged rapidly in April 2020, rising to become the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world and branding itself as “the safest high-yielding mining pool in the world.” But less than a year later, in February 2021, the operation disappeared without explanation. Until now, theories ranged from a quiet government shutdown to a move into private operations. Arkham’s investigation points instead to a catastrophic security breach.
According to the report, attackers struck on December 28, 2020, seizing over 90% of LuBian’s Bitcoin holdings in one sweep. The next day, they drained another $6 million in BTC and USDT from a wallet tied to the pool’s Bitcoin Omni layer activity. Arkham suspects the exploit was enabled by a flaw in LuBian’s private key generation process, which may have been vulnerable to brute-force attacks.
Despite the scale of the theft, LuBian still controls 11,886 BTC — about $1.35 billion at current prices — and the main stash stolen by the attacker has remained untouched since July 2024. LuBian has even attempted to reach out through Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN field, posting messages to the hacker offering a discussion on asset return and a potential reward.
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Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at Coindoo
Alex is an experienced financial journalist and cryptocurrency enthusiast. With over 8 years of experience covering the crypto, blockchain, and fintech industries, he is well-versed in the complex and ever-evolving world of digital assets. His insightful and thought-provoking articles provide readers with a clear picture of the latest developments and trends in the market. His approach allows him to break down complex ideas into accessible and in-depth content. Follow his publications to stay up to date with the most important trends and topics.
Source: https://coindoo.com/biggest-bitcoin-hack-in-history-just-revealed-14-5-billion-gone/