China blames the US for stealing US$13 b worth of Bitcoin: Bloomberg

China’s cybersecurity agency has accused the US government of stealing nearly US$13 billion (HK$101 billion) worth of Bitcoin, marking an attempt to blame Washington for this significant cyberattack, Bloomberg reported.

The Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center said in a report that the US government had already stolen the lost Bitcoin from the LuBian mining pool as early as 2020 with hacking techniques, describing the case as a “classic ‘black eats black’ operation by a state-level hacking organization.

As one of the biggest cryptocurrency theft cases, the LuBian mining pool, which mainly operated in China and Iran, once lost roughly 127,000 Bitcoin due to a hack.

The stolen Bitcoin, believed to be owned by Chen Zhi, the chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, was seized by the US government in October following allegations against him.

Initially, the stolen Bitcoin was saved in a wallet address without any trading, which does not align with the hacker's general aim of chasing profits.

Last year, these Bitcoin was moved to new wallets, which were later identified by the US government and framed as part of Chen Zhi's fraud events.

China’s cybersecurity agency argued the timeline and technical evidence indicate that Washington itself hacked and stole the cryptocurrency, only to link it to Chen as a cover story.

The lawyer for Chen has requested more time from US authorities to track the stolen Bitcoin, arguing that the allegations are “seriously misleading.” 

US prosecutors last month unveiled an indictment showing that Chen has not been detained in the United States.

Prince Holding Group declared on Tuesday that Chen has not engaged in any illegal events and that the allegations are baseless, adding that these accusations serve as an excuse to illegally seize assets worth billions of dollars.