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On Tuesday, Bitcoin.com News covered the U.S. government’s move to seize more than 127,000 bitcoins from Chinese national Chen Zhi and an international fraud ring dubbed Prince Group. Our newsroom noted in a follow-up post that the trove was tied to an old mining pool, Lubian.com, which authorities allege was both bankrolled and managed by Prince Group. In the past 24 hours, however, another 16,237 bitcoin from Lubian.com-linked wallets — separate from the massive 127,000 BTC forfeiture stash — quietly shuffled to new addresses.
Lubian.com’s $1.3B Bitcoin Wallets Emptied as U.S. Holdings Balloon to Record Levels
Yesterday, Bitcoin.com News revealed that Arkham Intelligence traced 127,426 bitcoin tied to the U.S. government’s seizure case to wallets tagged as “Lubian Hacker” — the same cluster linked to a 2020 exploit of China’s Lubian.com mining pool, a bitcoin mining operation said to be once operated and funded by Prince Group.
Those addresses overlap with wallets compromised by the 2023 Milky Sad weak-key bug (CVE-2023-39910), leading onchain detective ZachXBT to muse that the bitcoins were “either hacked for or by the U.S. government.” Who actually holds the keys is still anyone’s guess.
Our report also pointed out — complete with screenshot evidence — that the Lubian.com wallets, unrelated to the compromised and now-seized funds, once held 11,886 BTC valued at roughly $1.3 billion at the time. Since then, Arkham’s explorer data and onchain analysts, including Sani from timechainindex.com, have observed that the stash has been drained. What was 11,886 BTC yesterday now shows a mere 1.04774036 BTC left on the balance sheet today.
Sani posted on X:
“So far, Lubian has mixed funds across three addresses, revealing an additional 16,237 BTC beyond the ~127,000 BTC listed in the U.S. Government forfeiture documents:
bc1qvrwzs8unvu35kcred2z5ujjef36s5jgf3y6tp8: 13,107 BTC
bc1q42ltpxsc6s8fne0jz474tvuvyq2sqw26ud80xy: 2,129 BTC
bc1q4c9q0nva573jgs7vxu9hf0qyfqqtzy8awn77s0: 1,000 BTC”
Alongside the Lubian wallet movements, Arkham has now merged all addresses previously tagged as “Lubian.com Hacker” into the broader cluster of U.S. government (USG)-linked wallets, which once held roughly 197,000 BTC. According to Arkham’s explorer, the USG’s holdings have swelled to 324,779.5040413 BTC — about $36.18 billion — making it the single largest bitcoin hoard held by any nation-state. The 16,237 BTC Sani tracked moving earlier today still sits untouched in freshly created wallets. (1, 2, 3)
Whether the U.S. government directly executed the recovery or benefited from someone else’s hack remains a mystery — but the scale is undeniable. With more than 324,000 BTC now consolidated under its control, Washington’s crypto coffers eclipse every other nation’s, turning the Lubian–Milky Sad saga into one of the most extraordinary chapters in bitcoin’s forensic history.
As for the 16,237 BTC that moved earlier today — its controller remains unknown. As the coins sit quietly in newly created wallets, it adds yet another layer of intrigue to an already tangled web of digital breadcrumbs. It could be the original Lubian administrators reclaiming what’s left, yet no proof has surfaced to confirm it.
FAQ 💡
- What is the Lubian–Milky Sad connection?It links a 2020 Lubian.com mining pool exploit to the 2023 Milky Sad weak-key flaw (CVE-2023-39910).
- How much bitcoin is tied to the U.S. government’s wallets?Arkham Intelligence shows roughly 324,779 BTC, worth about $37 billion, held in U.S. government-linked wallets.
- Who controls the 16,237 BTC moved recently?The owner remains unknown, though some speculate it could be former Lubian administrators.
- Why is this case significant for bitcoin’s history?It marks one of the largest and most mysterious government-linked bitcoin recoveries ever recorded.