US Stole a Chinese Scam King’s $15B Bitcoin? Here’s “How”
The US seized 127,271 Bitcoin from scam king Chen Zhi, prompting Chinese media to allege the US government may have hacked and stolen the funds in 2020.Summary
Chen Zhi, founder of Cambodia's Prince Holding Group and accused scam king, was extradited to China after the US announced the seizure of 127,271 Bitcoin, valued at $15 billion, linked to his operations. This seizure followed a massive cyberattack on Chen's mining pool in late 2020, where nearly the same amount of Bitcoin, worth about $4 billion then, was stolen.
Chinese state media and experts suggest the US government may have been responsible for the 2020 theft, noting the stolen funds remained dormant for four years—behavior inconsistent with typical hackers but consistent with state-level actors—before being moved to wallets tagged as belonging to the US government. The US Department of Justice indictment details Chen's alleged crimes but omits how the private keys were obtained, fueling speculation that the US may have hacked the funds years prior.
Chinese media frames the situation as "black eating black" (criminals preying on criminals) and criticizes the US for seizing the funds without announcing a plan to return money to the thousands of global victims of Chen's alleged forced labor and romance scams.
(Source：BeInCrypto)