Arkham Intelligence Reveals $14 Billion Hacking of Chinese Mining Group LuBian
In a shocking report published on X, the blockchain analysis platform Arkham Intelligence revealed what would be the largest Bitcoin theft in history: a heist of 127,426 BTC (equivalent to $3.5 billion in 2020) from the Chinese mining group LuBian, with operations in China and Iran. Today, due to the increase in Bitcoin's price, that loot would be valued at $14.5 billion.
🔹 Details of the Attack
According to Arkham, the hacking occurred on December 28, 2020, when an attacker managed to steal more than 90% of LuBian's funds. One day later, the hacker withdrew another $6 million in BTC and USDT from an address linked to Bitcoin's Omni layer. By December 31, LuBian moved its remaining funds to recovery wallets.
The most surprising thing is that, unlike other famous cases (such as the recent hacking of Bybit for $1.5 billion in ETH), neither LuBian nor the hacker has publicly acknowledged the incident in these nearly four years.
🔹 Failed Recovery Attempts
Arkham discovered that LuBian attempted to negotiate with the attacker through OP_RETURN messages embedded in the blockchain, asking for the return of the funds. The company spent 1.4 BTC on 1,516 transactions to send these messages, suggesting that the theft was not a phishing attack, but a vulnerability in their private key generation, susceptible to brute force.
🔹 The Hacker, Among the Largest Holders of BTC
The attacker still possesses the 127,426 BTC stolen, last consolidated in July 2024. According to Arkham, this makes him the 13th largest holder of Bitcoin in the world, even surpassing the Mt. Gox hacker. Meanwhile, LuBian retains 11,886 BTC (about $1.35 billion), but the bulk of its fortune remains in the hands of the unknown cybercriminal.
This case exposes the security risks in cryptocurrency mining and raises questions about how a theft of such magnitude could remain secret for years.
