Catenaa, Monday, November 17, 2025- China’s top cybersecurity agency has accused the United States of orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history, alleging the US government stole roughly $13 billion worth of bitcoin from a Chinese mining pool in 2020, Bloomberg reported.
According to China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, the alleged theft involved more than 120,000 bitcoin belonging to the LuBian mining pool, which was hacked in December 2020.
The agency described the operation as a “state-level” cyberattack led by US intelligence, citing the slow, deliberate movement of stolen funds as evidence of government involvement rather than criminal activity.
LuBian, once the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool globally, ceased operations shortly after the hack wiped out most of its reserves.
The Chinese report also claimed that part of the stolen bitcoin is linked to assets seized by US authorities in a case against Chinese national Chen Zhi, who faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
Beijing’s latest accusation adds new tension to already strained U.S.-China relations, with both countries exchanging claims of cyber espionage and data theft in recent years. Washington has not issued an official response to the allegations.
The reported theft remains one of the largest in the cryptocurrency industry’s history, comparable to the 2014 Mt. Gox collapse and subsequent state-level cyber intrusions tied to digital assets.
