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- Arkham Intelligence uncovers massive Bitcoin heist from LuBian mining pool
- Vulnerable key algorithm led to loss of over 127,000 BTC
- LuBian disappeared after historic crypto theft worth billions in Bitcoin
A major crypto theft has come to light as blockchain expert platform Arkham Intelligence revealed a hidden hack that drained 127,426 BTC from LuBian, a Chinese mining pool. The stolen funds, now worth approximately $14.5 billion, make it one of the most significant crypto heists ever recorded.
LuBian joined the Bitcoin mining arena in April and immediately attracted some attention as it became the sixth-largest mining pool by hash rate. It has shot up to the skies, accompanied by assertions on its website that it sees itself as the safest, highest-yielding mining pool the world over.
Only a few months after its appearance, LuBian mysteriously disappeared from the network in February 2021. The missing, which couldn’t be attributed to anything, caused speculation, and the theories on where to attribute it ranged from a government crackdown to a soft transition to private operations. Nevertheless, this was not the only explanation given now by Arkharm Intelligence.
As the intelligence firm indicated, LuBian’s disappearance followed a mass security breach on December 28, 2020. In one attack, hackers stole more than 90 percent of the pool’s BTC assets, which were worth 3.5 billion at the time.
Moreover, another breach occurred the following day. Approximately 6 million in BTC and USDT were stolen from the LuBian address via the Bitcoin Omni layer, further reducing the pool reserves.
Expert Reveals Weak Key Algorithm May Have Enabled Massive Crypto Breach
The expert interpretation of the facts presented by Arkham makes it possible to suppose that departing from the complex of the private key generation algorithm was a fatal mistake of LuBian. This weakness actually allowed the hackers to use brute-force to get into and drain wallets related to the mining operation.
After the heist, 11,886 BTC were still in place, and their value now stands at 1.35 billion dollars. Since July 2024, these coins have not moved, signifying that the attacker had been frozen long before.
LuBian was able to send messages to the hacker using Bitcoin OP_RETURN. In the messages, the pool referred to the hacker by calling him a whitehat. He presented a reward to the hacker to get the money back.
The revelation of a $14.5 billion, top-secret theft turns the focus back to the essentiality of an increasing crypto infrastructure.
Experts have now proven the magnitude and technique of the attack. The case of a LuBian shows that even the slightest weakness can cause the downfall of the otherwise most successful participants.
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