Chinese regulator accuses the US of stealing more than $ 13 billion worth of bitcoin

China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) has accused the United States of illegally seizing more than 127,000 bitcoins, equivalent to about $ 13.3 billion. As stated in the center’s technical report, the cryptocurrency belonged to Cambodian businessman Chen Ji, the head of the Prince Group, and was confiscated by the US Department of Justice.

According to Chinese experts, these bitcoins BTC $86,583.17 Mezo Wrapped BTC -0.46% Market capitalization $41.95 million VOL. 24 hours $1.7 billion were stolen in 2020 during an attack on the LuBian mining pool. The hackers carried out the attack on December 29 of the same year and withdrew 127,272 BTC in two hours using an automated script with a fixed fee. The report states that the source addresses belonged to a pool associated with the Prince Group, but the specific addresses of the attackers were not disclosed.

Over the next four years, these assets remained idle. Representatives of the company and Chen Zhi himself posted more than 1,500 messages on the blockchain asking for the coins to be returned, but received no response. In June 2024, the bitcoins were activated and transferred to new wallets. According to the Arkham service, cited in the CVERC report, the US government controls these addresses.

on October 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice officially indicted Chen Zhi and announced the confiscation of digital assets obtained, according to the department, as a result of the hack. The Chinese report instead claims that the United States could have used «state-sponsored hacking methods» to access the funds, which the CVERC called «an internal conflict of thieves.»

The center’s experts also noted that not all of the confiscated bitcoins were of criminal origin. According to their estimates, about 17,800 BTC were mined through independent mining, 2,300 BTC were obtained from mining pool payments, and the rest were purchased through exchanges. Thus, CVERC’s data contradicts the statement of the US Department of Justice that the origin of these assets is completely illegal.