At the moment recognised as the biggest crypto theft in historical past, Chinese language Bitcoin mining pool LuBian was the sufferer of a staggering 127,426 BTC heist in December 2020.
On the time, the stolen Bitcoin was price roughly $3.5 billion, however with BTC’s present value surge, the haul is now valued at $14.5 billion, in accordance with blockchain analytics agency Arkham Intelligence.
LuBian, as soon as a dominant participant controlling 6% of the Bitcoin community’s hash fee, mysteriously vanished in early 2021. The shutdown was lengthy attributed to regulatory pressures, however Arkham’s findings now level to an enormous, undisclosed cyber breach as the actual motive.
BTC's value developments to the upside on the every day chart. Supply: BTCUSD on Tradingview
A Flawed Non-public Key and a Silent Large
The hackers reportedly exploited weak personal key era, a elementary safety flaw that allowed them to empty over 90% of LuBian’s BTC in a single assault on December 28, 2020. Two days later, a further $6 million in BTC and USDT was siphoned from one other LuBian-linked pockets working on the Bitcoin Omni layer.
In a determined try to get better the funds, LuBian issued over 1,500 Bitcoin transactions embedded with OP_RETURN messages, instantly pleading with the attacker to return the stolen BTC. Regardless of these efforts, no response was ever obtained.
Right now, that hacker’s pockets has gone largely untouched, with its final important motion being a pockets consolidation in July 2024. In keeping with Arkham, this dormant handle is now the thirteenth largest Bitcoin pockets in existence, forward of the notorious Mt. Gox hacker.
How the Bitcoin Heist Implicates Crypto Safety
This huge breach not solely surpasses all earlier crypto hacks, together with the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit of 2025, but in addition exposes deep vulnerabilities in older blockchain infrastructure and personal key protocols.
With $3.1 billion already misplaced to crypto hacks within the first half of 2025, specialists are urging mining swimming pools and exchanges to strengthen safety practices.
Because the LuBian case resurfaces, it serves as a stark reminder: in crypto, weak safety can price billions, and keep hidden for years.
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