LuBian's $4B Bitcoin heist revealed after five years of silence
by@arkham
Summary
In August 2025, the LuBian mining pool was linked to a massive theft of 127,426 BTC, valued at $3.5 billion, which had occurred in December 2020, marking it as the largest heist in cryptocurrency history. Notably, neither LuBian nor the responsible hacker had publicly acknowledged the incident for nearly five years. The vulnerability of early Bitcoin mining operations, often stemming from weak private key generation practices, has historically left such pools susceptible to exploitation, allowing for incidents like this to occur without immediate detection. Currently, LuBian holds $605.87 million in BTC on-chain.
Tokens
$BTC
Analysis
LuBian: LuBian is a Bitcoin mining pool that operated with facilities in China and Iran during its active period. It gained prominence in the Bitcoin network in 2020 before ceasing significant operations. Recent on-chain analysis has linked it to a previously unreported 2020 security incident involving the theft of a large portion of its holdings, which it has never publicly acknowledged. Blockchain Forensics: Analytics platforms like Arkham continue to track historical Bitcoin movements and entity holdings on-chain, surfacing details of long-dormant incidents from mining pools. Mining Pool Security: Early Bitcoin mining operations faced risks from weak private key generation practices that left pools vulnerable to exploitation without immediate detection.
Categories
cryptobitcoinon_chain_whaledefi
Related sources
- https://x.com/i/status/2107888573592817708
- https://cryptobriefing.com/lubian-bitcoin-theft-history/
- https://en.theblockbeats.news/flash/316415
- https://www.marketthink.co/80697
- https://x.com/i/status/2107888799086723417
- https://x.com/i/status/2107888571227177472
- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/lubian-mining-pool-hack
- https://news.futunn.com/en/post/64629432/technical-traceability-analysis-report-on-the-lubian-mining-pool-hack
- https://hotpaths.com/arkham-uncovers-3-5b-bitcoin-theft-from-chinese-mining-pool-stolen-in-2020-largest-theft-ever/
- https://www.notebookchat.com/index.php?topic=239893.0
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- https://compassmining.io/education/lubian-bitcoin-mining-private-pool-stopped
- https://x.com/i/status/2107876715334660372