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- U.S. accused of orchestrating massive $13B bitcoin theft from China.
- China links U.S. to 2020 bitcoin hack, escalating cyber tensions.
- State-level operation alleged behind LuBian mining pool’s crypto loss.
China’s cybersecurity agency has accused the U.S. government of orchestrating a massive bitcoin theft worth $13 billion. The incident, which took place in December 2020, targeted the LuBian mining pool, resulting in the theft of over 120,000 bitcoin. This is a state-level cyber operation, as China has been labeling this hack as one of the largest crypto heists in history, which implies the involvement of the U.S.
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U.S. Involvement Alleged in Coordinated State-Level Cyber Attack
The Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, which asserted the claim, cites that the advanced and slow transfer of the stolen bitcoin was an indication of an organized operation by a government agency, as opposed to an ordinary crime. The agency reported that the hack brought down the LuBian mining pool that had rapidly become one of the biggest in the Bitcoin network before the attack.
Analytics blockchain company Arkham Intelligence admitted that the hack resulted in the loss of a significant part of the holdings of the pool. The Chinese agency also associated the bitcoin stolen with the money taken by the U.S. in its case against Chinese national Chen Zhi. Zhi is accused of wire fraud and money laundering, and the stolen bitcoin might have been affiliated with his assets.
Rising Cybersecurity Tensions Between the U.S. and China
The cybersecurity agency of China also accuses the U.S. of high-tech hacking to steal bitcoin in 2020, which it calls a traditional black-ops strategy, in which state perpetrators attack each other through hacking. This claim is a contribution to the rising cybersecurity tensions between the U.S. and China, in which both countries have alleged against each other that they have engaged in state-sponsored cyber activities.
The LuBian intrusion is the recollection of the weak points in the cryptocurrency system because the number of cyberattacks by the state on online resources grows. This assertion continues to fuel the cyber war between two superpowers, the world over, with each party accusing the other of engaging in cyber thefts in order to amass wealth.
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