China just accused the United States of pulling off one of history's largest cryptocurrency thefts. They claim the US is responsible of hacking away 127,000 Bitcoin (worth $13 billion today) from a Chinese company back in 2020.

The funny thing is, The US government actually admits it has the Bitcoin. They just claim they seized it legally as part of a criminal investigation that came to light 4 years later.

The stolen Bitcoin sat untouched for nearly four years, unlike typical cyber-thieves who cash out quickly. Then suddenly in mid-2024, the coins moved directly to US government wallets. China calls this a "black eats black" operation, meaning the US stole the money, then invented a legal justification to keep it; Chen Zhi the billionaire scam compound mastermind.

Chen Zhi, 37, is the founder Prince Group, a massive Cambodian conglomerate. On paper, he funds scholarships and runs charities. According to US prosecutors, he's actually the mastermind behind a vast network of "pig butchering" scams. Romance and investment frauds that have stolen billions from victims worldwide.

He faces:

Chen remains at large and His company denies everything.

LuBian once controlled 6% of Bitcoin's global mining power, calling itself "the world's safest mining pool." Mining pools combine many computers' power to mine Bitcoin more efficiently.

But LuBian had pretty bad security. Their encryption was so weak a gaming laptop could crack it given a few hours. In December 2020, someone (COUGH NSA* COUGH) exploited this flaw and hacked the account taking control of 127K Bitcoins.

After the theft, Chen's Prince Group desperately sent blockchain messages begging for their Bitcoin back, offering rewards. No response came. By February 2021, LuBian simply disappeared. Stopped operating completely. The Chinese government placed a crypto mining ban shortly after, so this can explain the disappearance.

American prosecutors say LuBian wasn't just mining Bitcoin, but actually they were laundering money for Prince Group's scam empire. They claim they traced scammed funds through blockchain analysis back to the LuBian wallets and legally seized them as criminal proceeds.

The US hasn't explained exactly how they gained control of the Bitcoin, but insist everything was done through proper legal channels.

Beijing sees a dangerous precedent. Even if Chen Zhi is a criminal, China argues the US had no right to hack a Chinese company in 2020, years before any public charges.

Imagine China hacking a US bank, stealing money, then years later saying, "The account holder was a criminal, so we're keeping it." That's essentially what China claims happened here.

Cryptocurrency still very much so, exists in a gray zone where normal rules don't apply. When money is just code in cyberspace, the line between "seizure" and "theft" becomes kinda blurry.

Every day, nations, criminals, and law enforcement wage digital warfare. Billions flow through unregulated channels.

This won't be the last time superpowers clash over cryptocurrency. As more wealth goes digital, these confrontations will intensify.

The old rules no longer apply. What will the new ones be?

dontgetgot!