LuBian Bitcoin wallet moves $1.3B after DOJ case
LuBian Bitcoin wallet movement after DOJ seizure case
A Bitcoin wallet linked to the Chinese mining operation LuBian transferred about $1.3 billion in BTC a day after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed plans to seize $15 billion in digital assets. The funds were allegedly stolen from LuBian’s mining pool in 2020.
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that the LuBian-linked wallet sent 9,757 BTC, valued at around $1.1 billion, to new addresses after remaining inactive for three years.
Later the same day, Arkham Intelligence tracked another transfer of 2,129 BTC, worth $238 million, from the same wallet. The total of 11,886 BTC, now worth around $1.3 billion, matches the amount LuBian reportedly moved to recovery wallets in 2020.
Arkham’s earlier investigation claimed that LuBian was hacked for 127,426 BTC, valued at about $3.5 billion at the time. The recent transactions appear connected to the Bitcoin stolen during that breach.
DOJ reveals $15B Bitcoin forfeiture against LuBian-linked firm
The LuBian Bitcoin wallet movement occurred just one day after the DOJ unsealed an indictment involving Prince Holding Group, a Cambodia-based company accused of running a massive crypto fraud and laundering scheme.
US prosecutors filed a forfeiture complaint for roughly $14.4 billion in Bitcoin connected to the group, led by its founder Chen Zhi. The DOJ said the assets are already in custody and will be forfeited following potential convictions on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.
Authorities said Zhi and his partners laundered funds to finance mining operations through companies like Warp Data in Laos, its Texas subsidiary, and LuBian in China. In 2020, LuBian became the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool globally.
According to the DOJ, these entities were used to “produce large sums of clean Bitcoin dissociated from criminal proceeds.”
Seized Bitcoin could expand US reserves
If approved by the court, the forfeited Bitcoin would be among the largest-ever additions to US government digital asset holdings.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve for national use. White House AI and crypto policy chief David Sacks said this reserve would include Bitcoin “forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.”
The LuBian-linked funds could therefore become part of the growing pool of government-controlled digital assets if the court grants the DOJ’s request.
