A crypto pockets tied to a little-known Chinese language mining pool could have been the sufferer of the most important bitcoin theft ever recorded, based on new findings from Arkham Intelligence.
In an Aug. 2 thread on X, the onchain analytics agency mentioned it had uncovered proof that 127,426 BTC — value $3.5 billion on the time — was stolen from LuBian Mining Pool in late December 2020. Neither LuBian nor the suspected hacker has ever publicly acknowledged the breach, and Arkham mentioned it’s the first to report the incident.
LuBian was one of many largest bitcoin mining swimming pools globally in 2020, reportedly controlling practically 6% of Bitcoin’s complete hash fee as of Could that yr. The hack, if confirmed, would eclipse the dimensions of different high-profile exploits like Mt. Gox and Bitfinex by nominal worth on the time of loss.
Arkham’s evaluation signifies that on Dec. 28, 2020, greater than 90% of LuBian’s BTC holdings had been drained. Two days later, one other theft involving about $6 million value of BTC and USDT occurred, linked to a LuBian deal with working on the Bitcoin Omni layer. The corporate seems to have moved its remaining 11,886 BTC — then value a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands — into restoration wallets by Dec. 31, 2020.
A notable element in Arkham’s report is the presence of OP_RETURN messages — particular transactions that permit knowledge to be embedded within the Bitcoin blockchain — despatched from LuBian to the hacker. In line with Arkham, the mining pool spent 1.4 BTC throughout over 1,500 transactions trying to contact the thief, urging them to return the stolen funds. This effort suggests the messages had been real and originated from the rightful pockets proprietor.
Arkham believes the vulnerability could have stemmed from LuBian’s use of a flawed personal key technology algorithm that left it vulnerable to brute-force assaults. The stolen BTC has apparently remained largely dormant, with the final main motion being a pockets consolidation in July 2024.
As a result of worth appreciation of bitcoin since 2020, the present worth of the stolen belongings is estimated to be $14.5 billion. That makes the pockets related to the LuBian hacker the thirteenth largest BTC holder tracked by Arkham — surpassing the holdings linked to the Mt. Gox breach.
As of in the present day, each the hacker and LuBian are believed to nonetheless management their respective BTC balances. Arkham has printed pockets trackers for each events, however no extra particulars in regards to the identities concerned have been disclosed.