Bitcoin Heist: $14.5 Billion Stolen from LuBian Pool

Blockchain intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence has unveiled an unreported heist involving 127,426 BTC, valued at approximately $14.5 billion, stolen from the Chinese mining pool LuBian in December 2020. This theft is noted to be the largest in terms of value at that time, exceeding $3.5 billion. In contrast, the infamous Mt. Gox exchange lost about 744,000 BTC, but the Bitcoin's price at that time made the loss amount only to several hundred million dollars. LuBian made a significant entrance into the mining landscape in late April 2020, rapidly achieving the rank of the sixth-largest mining pool on the Bitcoin network. The pool's website touted it as "the safest high-yielding mining pool in the world." However, LuBian disappeared unexpectedly in February 2021, leading to speculation that its closure was due to government intervention or a shift to a private pool. Arkham's findings suggest that LuBian’s closure was a result of a substantial hack that compromised a majority of its assets. Arkham stated, "They appear to have first been hacked on December 28, 2020, losing over 90% of their BTC." Additionally, on December 29, another $6 million worth of BTC and USDT was stolen from an active LuBian address on the Bitcoin Omni layer. According to Arkham, the hack may have stemmed from vulnerabilities in LuBian's private key generation algorithm, which could have been easily exploited. "It appears that LuBian was using a key generation algorithm open to brute-force attacks," Arkham explained. Notably, LuBian managed to retain 11,886 BTC, currently valued at $1.35 billion. Interestingly, the suspected hacker has not transferred any BTC since July 2024. LuBian did reach out to several involved addresses within Bitcoin's OP_RETURN field, stating, "To the whitehat who is saving our asset, you can contact us to discuss the return of the asset and your reward." Although an email address was provided, it remains unclear if the hacker responded. Arkham has not issued immediate comments regarding this situation.