I just read something that I can't stop thinking about.

China is accusing the United States government—not hackers, not criminals, the actual US government—of stealing $13 billion worth of Bitcoin. Thirteen billion dollars. From a Chinese Bitcoin mining pool. Back in December 2020.

And apparently, we're just finding out about this now.

I don't know if this is true. I don't know if China is lying, telling the truth, or somewhere in between. But the accusation alone is absolutely insane. And the more I read about it, the crazier it gets.

What Allegedly Happened

December 29th, 2020. Almost five years ago.

The LuBian Bitcoin mining pool, one of the largest in the world at the time, was hacked. 127,272 Bitcoin were stolen. At the time, that was worth about $3.5 billion. Today? At current Bitcoin prices around $101,000 to $105,000, that's approximately $13 billion.

One of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history.

For nearly four years, those Bitcoin just... sat there. Dormant. Not moving. Then in July 2024, they suddenly started transferring. Blockchain tracking firms like Arkham Intelligence watched as 120,576 BTC moved from addresses labeled "LuBian.com Hacker" to wallets identified as US government-controlled.

And that's when China started asking questions.

Last week, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center published a report. Their conclusion? This wasn't a normal hack. This was, in their words, a "state-level hacker operation" led by the United States.

China's Accusation

Here's what China is saying, and I'm just going to lay it out as they're presenting it:

The quiet and delayed movement of the stolen Bitcoin suggests government-level action, not typical criminal behavior. Criminals who steal Bitcoin usually try to cash out quickly, move it through mixers, sell it on dark web markets. They don't let it sit dormant for four years.

But a government? A government could afford to wait. Could afford to be patient. Could afford to eventually claim the funds through "legal" channels.

China's cybersecurity agency claims the US government may have used hacking techniques as early as 2020 to steal these 127,000 Bitcoin from Chen Zhi, who owned the LuBian mining pool. Then, four years later, the US filed a civil forfeiture complaint "seizing" those same Bitcoin, calling it the largest forfeiture action in US history.

China is essentially saying: You can't seize what you stole. That's not law enforcement. That's state-sponsored theft with extra steps.

The US Side of the Story

The United States Department of Justice tells a completely different story.

They say Chen Zhi, the chairman of Cambodia's Prince Group who owned the LuBian mining pool, is a criminal. He was indicted in October on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and operating a money laundering scheme.

According to US prosecutors, Chen's Prince Group ran "pig butchering" scams—massive online romance and investment fraud schemes that stole billions from victims worldwide. They allegedly used trafficked workers in forced labor camps in Cambodia to run these scams, convincing victims to send cryptocurrency that was never returned.

The US says the 127,271 Bitcoin are proceeds from Chen's criminal enterprise. The forfeiture is legitimate. It's the largest seizure in US history, yes, but it's targeting the proceeds of international fraud, not theft.

Federal prosecutors have declined to comment on how or when they actually obtained control of the Bitcoin. They won't say how they got into the wallets. They won't explain the four-year gap between the hack and the official seizure.

And that silence is what's fueling China's accusations.

The Technical Details Are Wild

Here's where it gets even more interesting.

The LuBian mining pool controlled about 6% of the global Bitcoin hash rate when it was breached. That's massive. And the hack itself exploited a critical flaw in how LuBian generated private keys for Bitcoin wallets.

They used something called the Mersenne Twister random number generator with only a 32-bit seed. For anyone who doesn't know tech stuff, that's basically like using a really weak password system. It made the wallets vulnerable to brute-force attacks—someone could predict the private keys and drain the wallets.

So here's the question: Who knew about that vulnerability? And who had the technical capability to exploit it?

China is arguing that exploiting that specific flaw, then patiently waiting four years to move the funds, sounds exactly like something a state-level intelligence operation would do. Not a random hacker group.

The US isn't denying they have the Bitcoin. They're just saying it was seized as part of a legitimate criminal investigation, not stolen through hacking.

Who's Telling the Truth?

I genuinely don't know.

Is China lying? Are they using this as propaganda to make the US look bad in a geopolitical dispute? That's possible. China and the US have been in escalating tensions over tech, tariffs, and cryptocurrency regulation for years. This could be another chapter in that battle.

Is the US lying? Did American intelligence agencies really hack a Chinese mining pool, steal $13 billion worth of Bitcoin, then wait four years to officially "seize" it through legal channels? That sounds like a spy thriller, but... governments have done crazier things.

Or is the truth somewhere in between? Maybe the US did investigate Chen Zhi's criminal operations, found the Bitcoin through legitimate means, but can't explain exactly how because it involves classified intelligence methods. And China is exploiting that ambiguity to claim the whole thing was a hack.

I don't know. And the fact that I don't know is what's bothering me most.

What This Means for Bitcoin

Regardless of who's telling the truth, this story raises some terrifying questions.

Can governments just... take Bitcoin? Through hacking? Through "seizure"? Through whatever method they want and then explain it away later?

If the US really did hack the LuBian pool, what does that say about Bitcoin's security? Everyone always says "Bitcoin is secure, you control your keys, no one can take it from you." But if a government with enough resources and technical capability can exploit vulnerabilities and drain wallets, then what does "secure" even mean?

And if China's accusation is propaganda, if the US legitimately seized criminal proceeds, then why won't they explain how they got the Bitcoin? The silence makes people suspicious. It feeds conspiracy theories. It makes it impossible to know who to believe.

Either way, 127,272 Bitcoin—$13 billion worth—are now in the hands of the US government. And that's a fact, regardless of how they got there.

The Largest Forfeiture in US History

The US Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint for 127,271 Bitcoin. They're calling it the largest forfeiture action in US history.

If this goes through, the US government will officially own $13 billion worth of Bitcoin. What they do with it is anyone's guess. Sell it? Hold it? Add it to some strategic reserve?

And here's the thing that keeps nagging at me: if the US government can seize or hack or obtain (however they did it) $13 billion in Bitcoin, how much more can they do? How many other wallets are vulnerable? How many other mining pools have similar flaws?

Bitcoin is supposed to be decentralized. No single entity controls it. No government can shut it down or confiscate it. But this story—whether it's hacking or seizure—shows that governments absolutely can take Bitcoin if they want it badly enough.

Nobody's Really Talking About This

Here's what frustrates me most: this should be massive news. China accusing the US government of stealing $13 billion in Bitcoin should be on every front page. It should be the biggest story in crypto.

But it's barely making waves. A few articles from Bloomberg and some crypto news sites. That's it. Most people don't even know this is happening.

Maybe that's because it's too complex. Maybe it's because people are numb to big numbers—$13 billion sounds fake, like monopoly money. Maybe it's because the crypto community has seen so many hacks and scandals that even this doesn't shock us anymore.

Or maybe it's because if we really think about what this means—that governments can take Bitcoin, that $13 billion can disappear and then reappear in government wallets, that we still don't know who's telling the truth—it's too unsettling to process.

What I'm Feeling Right Now

I'm shocked. I'm confused. I'm trying to wrap my head around the implications.

If China is right, the US government is engaging in state-sponsored cryptocurrency theft. That's terrifying for anyone holding Bitcoin or any crypto.

If the US is right, then Chen Zhi ran a massive criminal enterprise using Bitcoin, and the US is just recovering stolen funds. That's... fine, I guess? But the opacity around how they got the Bitcoin is still concerning.

And if both sides are partly right and partly lying—which honestly feels most likely—then we're watching a geopolitical game being played with Bitcoin as the weapon. And regular people like us are just trying to figure out who to trust.

The Questions Nobody's Answering

It's Thursday, November 13th, 2025. Bitcoin is trading in the $101,000 to $105,000 range, dealing with its usual volatility. And now there's THIS. An accusation that the US government stole $13 billion in Bitcoin five years ago and we're just finding out now.

Who's telling the truth? Was this a hack or a seizure? Can governments just take Bitcoin whenever they want? Are any of us actually safe holding crypto if state-level actors can exploit vulnerabilities or use legal seizures to confiscate funds?

The US won't explain how they got the Bitcoin. China claims they stole it. The Bitcoin is now in US government wallets. Chen Zhi is under indictment for running criminal fraud operations. And 127,272 Bitcoin—one of the largest amounts ever held by a single entity—are sitting in government control.

I don't have answers. I'm just trying to process what this means.

What do you think? Is China telling the truth? Is the US? Does it even matter who's "right" if the end result is the same—governments can take Bitcoin whether through hacking, seizure, or some combination of both?

Let me know because I'm genuinely trying to understand what this means for all of us holding crypto. If $13 billion can disappear and reappear like this, what does that say about the future of Bitcoin?

I don't know. I'm just another person reading about a government possibly stealing or seizing $13 billion in Bitcoin and trying to decide what that means for everything we thought we knew about cryptocurrency.

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📝 Written by Crypto Hustle NG – your trusted guide to understanding crypto and blockchain technology. I help beginners navigate the digital asset world with clear, honest, and practical advice.