Breaking: China Accuses U.S. in $13bn Crypto Dispute

China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) on Nov. 9, 2025, accused the U.S. government of helping carry out a massive Bitcoin heist.

Chinese officials claim that 127,000 bitcoins, roughly $13 billion at today’s prices were stolen from the LuBian mining pool in a 2020 cyberattack and later ended up in U.S. custody.

If true, this would make it one of history’s largest cryptocurrency thefts. The allegation sparked concern among analysts about security in mining operations and added a new flashpoint to U.S.–China tech tensions.

Details of the 2020 Lubian Mining Pool Hack

Chinese state reports say the Lubian mining pool was infiltrated on Dec. 29, 2020. The CVERC technical report via the Global Times, lays out a step-by-step timeline: hackers exploited a cryptographic flaw and siphoned off 127,272 bitcoins, worth about $3.5 billion then, now roughly $15 billion, belonging to LuBian’s owner, Chen Zhi.

LuBian – which operated mining farms in China and Iran – controlled nearly 6% of global Bitcoin mining before the breach.

Unusually, the entire stash sat untouched for nearly four years, which experts say “deviates from the typical pattern of quick liquidation” and points to a sophisticated, possibly state-level attacker.

During that dormancy, LuBian even posted messages on-chain asking hackers to return the funds in exchange for a reward.

In mid-2024 the coins were quietly moved to new wallets. Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham later tagged those addresses as controlled by the U.S. government.

The CVERC report argues this strongly suggests the same “state-level hacking organization” behind the original LuBian breach carried out a final step that transferred the coins into U.S. hands.

“The U.S. government likely stole Chen Zhi’s 127,000 Bitcoins as early as 2020 using hacking techniques,” the Chinese report concluded, calling it a “typical case of ‘thieves falling out’.”

U.S. Response To China and Official Position

U.S. authorities dispute the Chinese accusations. On Oct. 14, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment charging LuBian’s owner, Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi, with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a massive “pig butchering” crypto scam.

In a parallel civil forfeiture action, the DOJ announced it had seized approximately 127,271 bitcoins that were tied to Chen’s fraud scheme.

The DOJ press release explicitly states these funds were “proceeds and instrumentalities” of Chen’s scams and were held in wallets whose private keys he controlled. It notes this is “the largest forfeiture action in the history of the Department of Justice.”

Senior U.S. officials described the action as a landmark strike against human trafficking and fraud, emphasizing that the bitcoin involved were obtained through illicit schemes, not hacking the Lubian pool.

The DOJ and FBI have given no indication that U.S. agents participated in any hacking. In response to the Chinese report, U.S. spokespeople have simply reiterated that the seizure was a legitimate law enforcement operation targeting criminal proceeds.

At press time neither the U.S. Neither the Treasury nor the DOJ had issued public comments on China’s specific allegations.

Geopolitical Undercurrents and Market Implications

The tug-of-war over this Bitcoin heist lays bare the broader mistrust between Washington and Beijing on cyber and financial issues.

Chinese state media are framing the dispute as evidence of American “double standards” on cyber security, while U.S. officials see it as a provocative claim that could inflame bilateral tensions.

The controversy feeds into a geopolitical undercurrent: China has repeatedly accused U.S. cyber agencies of abusive tactics, and this latest case echoes those accusations.

For crypto markets and policy, the immediate price impact appears muted. Bitcoin has been trading around $100–105K in recent weeks, near its recent record highs.