Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics firm, reported that it identified a Bitcoin theft that went unnoticed for years on August 2.
On December 28, 2020, a Chinese Bitcoin mining group called LuBian lost 127,426 BTC
At the time, that amount was worth about $3.5 billion, which made it the biggest known crypto-related theft to date. LuBian was a large player in the crypto mining industry back then, and ranked as the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool.
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Most of the group’s Bitcoin was taken before the company could react. LuBian eventually moved just under 12,000 BTC into separate wallets to prevent further losses.
Following the theft, LuBian left messages on the blockchain addressed to the attacker. These messages were sent in 1,516 separate transactions, each including a short OP_RETURN note directed at the hacker’s wallet addresses.
In total, LuBian spent around 1.4 BTC to post these warnings. The messages did not stop the theft, but helped Arkham Intelligence trace the stolen funds years later.
Arkham Intelligence also found clues about how the attack may have happened. Their team said:
It appears that LuBian was using an algorithm to generate its private keys that was susceptible to brute-force attacks. This may have been the vulnerability exploited by the hackers.
On July 15, Aracadia Finance was targeted in an attack that led to the loss of around $3.5 million in crypto assets. How did it happen? Read the full story.
Having completed a Master’s degree in Economics, Politics, and Cultures of the East Asia region, Aaron has written scientific papers analyzing the differences between Western and Collective forms of capitalism in the post-World War II era.
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