The US may nonetheless declare one other $2 billion value of Bitcoin linked to the defunct LuBian mining pool, regardless of already saying the biggest crypto seizure in its historical past.
On October 15, blockchain investigator Sani reported that almost 16,237 BTC, value round $1.8 billion at present costs, stays in movement throughout addresses linked to LuBian.
These embrace:
- bc1qvrwzs8unvu35kcred2z5ujjef36s5jgf3y6tp8: 13,107 BTC
- bc1q42ltpxsc6s8fne0jz474tvuvyq2sqw26ud80xy: 2,129 BTC
- bc1q4c9q0nva573jgs7vxu9hf0qyfqqtzy8awn77s0: 1,000 BTC
Notably, these wallets weren’t listed among the many 25 addresses within the US forfeiture filings, which doc about 127,000 BTC the federal government desires seized.
The discrepancy, nevertheless, doesn’t essentially imply federal brokers missed any funds. Some addresses could stay sealed beneath court docket order, whereas others may belong to intermediaries inside the laundering community.
Nonetheless, these coin actions recommend that investigators have but to totally map the community’s management construction.
Strategic Bitcoin reserve
If the US authorities recovers the extra 16,237 BTC and the seized 127,000 BTC, its whole Bitcoin holdings would rise to about 343,000 BTC. That quantity would signify roughly 1.6% of the asset’s whole provide.
The holdings would place the US authorities because the undoubted largest nation-state holder of the highest crypto.
Furthermore, the stash would place the US simply behind Michael Saylor-led Technique (previously MicroStrategy), whose company treasury holds about 640,000 BTC, or over 3% of Bitcoin’s whole provide.
In the meantime, the LuBian case additionally represents the primary actual check of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), a program created beneath President Donald Trump’s March 2025 govt order to handle seized digital belongings.
Senator Cynthia Lummis stated the seized Bitcoin exhibits that the US Congress should “move clear digital asset market construction laws to make sure legislation enforcement can act decisively in opposition to unhealthy actors whereas defending innovation.”
She added:
“Codifying how seized bitcoin is saved, returned to victims, and safeguarded for future generations. Turning legal proceeds into belongings that strengthen America’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve exhibits how sound coverage can flip wrongdoing into lasting nationwide worth.”
How LuBian collapsed
As soon as ranked among the many world’s prime six Bitcoin miners, LuBian managed about 6% of world hash energy by means of operations in China and Iran.
Its downfall got here in late 2020 when a vulnerability in its key-generation algorithm allowed attackers to empty 127,426 BTC, then valued at $3.5 billion, from its wallets. Arkham Intelligence first reported this theft in August 2025.
Determined to get better the funds, LuBian broadcast a whole bunch of on-chain messages pleading with the hacker to return the cash, providing a reward for his or her restoration.
Blockchain evaluation agency Elliptic later estimated that the corporate spent over $40,000 sending these embedded pleas earlier than disappearing from the community in early 2021.
On Oct. 14, US authorities unsealed an indictment that linked the stolen belongings to a fraud community related with the Prince Group, a Cambodian conglomerate led by Chen Zhi.
In accordance with the authorities, Chen’s associates funneled proceeds from “pig-butchering” scams, that are huge on-line funding frauds, into crypto-mining operations like LuBian.
