• China’s CVERC has accused the US authorities of a “state-level hack” that led to the seizure of 127,000 bitcoins ($13 billion) stolen in 2020.
• China’s proof is that the cash had been dormant for 4 years, which it claims is uncommon for a prison and indicative of presidency manipulation.
• The US Division of Justice denied the allegations, saying the cash had been a “legit seizure of prison proceeds” associated to a global cryptocurrency rip-off.

China has accused the US authorities of conducting “state-level hacking” and seizing 127,000 bitcoins, value about $13 billion. The China Nationwide Pc Virus Emergency Response Heart (CVERC) claims that the belongings had been initially stolen from China’s LuBian mining pool on December 29, 2020.

China claims ‘state-level hacking’ attributable to 4-year dormancy

The group claims that the stolen funds remained dormant for nearly 4 years (from 2021 to mid-2024) earlier than being transferred to U.S.-linked wallets, earlier than being formally seized by the U.S. Division of Justice in October 2025 as a part of a lawsuit in opposition to Chen Zhi, a crypto particular person working in Cambodia.

CVERC argues that this unusually lengthy interval of inactivity is indicative of a government-sponsored operation, not simply random criminals benefiting from the scenario.

In accordance with studies, Chen Zhi tried to barter by posting a public message on the blockchain to pay a ransom to get his cash again, however the hackers didn’t reply to his supply.

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Justice Division’s denial and China’s counterargument

China claims that roughly 17,800 BTC got here from legit mining, 2,300 BTC got here from mining pool distributions, and 107,100 BTC got here from combined sources, refuting US claims that the cash had been purely fraudulent proceeds.

CVERC argues that the timing and motion of the funds is totally different from a typical regulation enforcement seizure. Relatively, they imagine it means that the U.S. authorities had entry to Bitcoin sooner than claimed and should have been instantly concerned within the preliminary hack.

The US Division of Justice denied all allegations and mentioned the cash had been a legit seizure of prison proceeds associated to a global cryptocurrency rip-off.

Moreover, the division has lately reported massive confiscations of Bitcoin attributable to large-scale prison actions (corresponding to pig butchering and cash laundering), indicating that U.S. authorities are growing their capability to deal with crypto-related crimes.

Geopolitical dangers to Bitcoin worth

Curiously, the truth that Chinese language authorities used blockchain information to trace cash from mining swimming pools to funds exhibits how far digital forensics has come. Which means that people or entities holding massive quantities of cryptocurrencies are considerably extra prone to be recognized and have their transactions monitored.

In the end, if the Chinese language authorities formally responds to the allegations by means of authorized or diplomatic channels, it may make traders understand Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies as riskier, probably driving down costs.

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