Financial and Business News

LuBian Linked Wallet Moves $1.3B After DOJ’s Largest Crypto Forfeiture

Wednesday, 15/10/2025 | 15:03 GMT by Tareq Sikder
  • The wallet had been inactive for three years before the transfers.
  • The seized Bitcoin could be added to the new US Bitcoin reserve.
hacker

A wallet linked to Chinese Bitcoin mining operation LuBian moved nearly $1.3 billion in Bitcoin a day after the United States Department of Justice filed a seizure case for $15 billion in allegedly stolen cryptocurrency, which the DOJ said is the largest crypto forfeiture in its history.

The transfers occurred less than a day after the DOJ filed charges against Prince Holding Group, a Cambodia-based company accused of operating large crypto fraud schemes linked to pig-butchering.

Dormant Wallet Activity Resurfaces

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that a wallet connected to LuBian transferred 9,757 BTC, worth about $1.1 billion at the time, to new wallets after three years of inactivity.

Digital assets meet tradfi in London at the fmls25

Arkham Intelligence said the same wallet later moved another 2,129 BTC, valued at roughly $238 million, hours after the first transfer. In total, 11,886 BTC, worth about $1.3 billion at current market prices, were transferred.

Link to the 2020 LuBian Hack

An earlier report by Arkham on August 3 said LuBian was hacked in 2020 for 127,426 BTC, worth about $3.5 billion at the time. The firm noted that the 11,886 BTC now moved matches the amount LuBian had placed in recovery wallets following the hack.

Potential Addition to US Bitcoin Reserve

US prosecutors filed a forfeiture complaint for about $14.4 billion connected to the alleged fraud network led by Chen Zhi, founder of Prince Holding Group. The DOJ said the Bitcoin involved is already in custody and could be forfeited following possible convictions on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

The DOJ said Zhi and his associates used fraud proceeds to fund crypto mining operations in Laos, Texas, and China through LuBian, once the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool.

If approved, the seizure would mark one of the largest additions to US Bitcoin holdings, following a March order by former President Donald Trump to create a reserve funded by forfeited digital assets.

A wallet linked to Chinese Bitcoin mining operation LuBian moved nearly $1.3 billion in Bitcoin a day after the United States Department of Justice filed a seizure case for $15 billion in allegedly stolen cryptocurrency, which the DOJ said is the largest crypto forfeiture in its history.

The transfers occurred less than a day after the DOJ filed charges against Prince Holding Group, a Cambodia-based company accused of operating large crypto fraud schemes linked to pig-butchering.

Dormant Wallet Activity Resurfaces

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that a wallet connected to LuBian transferred 9,757 BTC, worth about $1.1 billion at the time, to new wallets after three years of inactivity.

Digital assets meet tradfi in London at the fmls25

Arkham Intelligence said the same wallet later moved another 2,129 BTC, valued at roughly $238 million, hours after the first transfer. In total, 11,886 BTC, worth about $1.3 billion at current market prices, were transferred.

Link to the 2020 LuBian Hack

An earlier report by Arkham on August 3 said LuBian was hacked in 2020 for 127,426 BTC, worth about $3.5 billion at the time. The firm noted that the 11,886 BTC now moved matches the amount LuBian had placed in recovery wallets following the hack.

Potential Addition to US Bitcoin Reserve

US prosecutors filed a forfeiture complaint for about $14.4 billion connected to the alleged fraud network led by Chen Zhi, founder of Prince Holding Group. The DOJ said the Bitcoin involved is already in custody and could be forfeited following possible convictions on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

The DOJ said Zhi and his associates used fraud proceeds to fund crypto mining operations in Laos, Texas, and China through LuBian, once the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool.

If approved, the seizure would mark one of the largest additions to US Bitcoin holdings, following a March order by former President Donald Trump to create a reserve funded by forfeited digital assets.

Topics
crypto
fraud
pig butchering
DOJ
About the Author: Tareq Sikder
Tareq Sikder
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A Forex technical analyst and writer who has been engaged in financial writing for 12 years.

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