The $14.5 billion LuBian Bitcoin theft case has been hidden for nearly five years and is now officially revealed by Arkham. The 127,426 Bitcoins still quietly lie in the wallet. (Background: False prosperity? U.S. non-farm payrolls in July far below expectations, revisions down by 258,000 for May and June, Trump criticizes Powell, fires labor secretary) (Additional background: After Wall Street polluted Bitcoin, '1BTC≠1btc', why are native Bitcoins the next Holy Grail?) A Bitcoin theft case valued at $14.5 billion has had its mystery unveiled nearly five years later. On the morning of today (3rd), on-chain analysis company Arkham Intelligence released a detailed report revealing that in late 2020, the Chinese mining pool LuBian was hacked, resulting in the theft of 127,426 Bitcoins. One of the largest thefts in history: 127,426 BTC lost. This event is the first to be publicly confirmed (neither LuBian nor the hacker publicly acknowledged this hack at the time). Arkham's analysis of on-chain footprints shows that the main attack occurred on December 28, 2020, when the price of Bitcoin was about $27,500, resulting in a total theft amount of approximately $3.5 billion, which has now surged to $14.5 billion based on current prices. After this massive fund was transferred out, the wallet address remained dormant for a long time, only appearing once for internal consolidation in July 2024, and it has now become the 13th largest Bitcoin holder in the world. BREAKING: ARKHAM UNCOVERS $3.5B HEIST – THE LARGEST EVER LuBian was a Chinese mining pool with facilities in China & Iran. Based on analysis of on-chain data, it appears that 127,426 BTC was stolen from LuBian in December 2020, worth $3.5 billion at the time and now worth… pic.twitter.com/PnIOKgMt0i — Arkham (@arkham) August 2, 2025 The private key was too simple, allowing hackers to easily brute force Arkham's report points out that the weakness of the random function used in the private key generation phase of LuBian was key to the hackers being able to 'brute force' it. Low entropy is like making the grooves of a front door lock too regular; hackers only need enough time to try every key. Arkham speculates that the vulnerability is similar to the 32-bit random number issue found in the early source code of some Trust Wallet. On-chain SOS: 1,516 OP_RETURN messages went unanswered. After the theft, LuBian did not publicly report it but instead used the Bitcoin OP_RETURN feature to try to communicate directly with the hackers. A total of 1,516 small transactions with strings cost about 1.4 BTC, repeatedly pleading for the return of funds. LuBian ultimately ceased mining in early 2021, and it is widely believed that, in addition to policy resistance from China and Iran, the massive loss was the final straw that crushed the business. LuBian roadside mining pool entered the market at the end of April 2020 and quickly rose to become the sixth largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world, at one point controlling nearly 6% of Bitcoin network hash power, with its mining facilities distributed in China and Iran. Security insights and future warnings The core lesson revealed by the LuBian case is simple: if private key generation is not robust enough, once compromised, it becomes a disaster-level security black hole. As the value of crypto assets continues to rise, if the industry wants to reassure investors, it must forge invisible security tools into the hardest armor; otherwise, even the greatest profits could vanish overnight. On the other hand, this batch of BTC remains still, but there may be a possibility of transactions at any time in the future, and the market can monitor its on-chain flow at any time. Related reports: After Wall Street polluted Bitcoin, '1BTC≠1btc', why are native Bitcoins the next Holy Grail? Bitcoin reserve companies: Why spend $2 to buy $1 BTC? The $10 billion selling pressure has not shaken Bitcoin; is BTC's next target to surge to $140,000? "The truth behind the collapse of the sixth-largest 'LuBian roadside mining pool': 127,000 Bitcoins stolen, now worth $14.5 billion (inactive for five years)" This article was first published on BlockTempo (the most influential blockchain news media).

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