by Enoch Mwathwa
Back in late February 2025, North Korean hackers shook the crypto market after stealing $1.4 billion worth in crypto from ByBit, a well known crypto exchange. This hack was then dubbed to be the biggest crypto hack in history. But in a recent development, blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence exposed a $3.5 billion hack.
According to Arkham, hackers stole 127,426 Bitcoin from a Chinese Mining Pool, namely LuBian. This hack happened back in 2020 but is now the biggest hack in the history of crypto.
LuBian’s $3.5 Billion Hack Exposed; Details
In 2020, LuBian was a big name in the crypto mining sector. This Chinese firm controlled over 6% of the total Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate back then by operating crypto mining operations in both China and Iran.
However, on December 28, 2020, hackers managed to breach LuBian stealing over 90% of the firm’s Bitcoin as per a recent report by Arkham Intelligence. A day later – December 29, 2020 – the hackers also breached the Bitcoin Omni Layer address, stealing additional $6 million in Bitcoin and USDT. But, LuBian never reported this incident publicly nor did the hackers, until the recent report by Arkham Intelligence.
BREAKING: ARKHAM UNCOVERS $3.5B HEIST – THE LARGEST EVER
LuBian was a Chinese mining pool with facilities in China & Iran. Based on analysis of on-chain data, it appears that 127,426 BTC was stolen from LuBian in December 2020, worth $3.5 billion at the time and now worth… pic.twitter.com/PnIOKgMt0i
— Arkham (@arkham) August 2, 2025
As per the report, the hackers managed to steal a total of 127,426 BTC. These coins were then worth $3.5 billion. However, based on the appreciation in the price of Bitcoin, the stolen coins are now worth over $14.5 billion, making it officially the biggest crypto hack ever.
Arkham Identifies Multiple Wallets Used in the LuBian Hack
The crypto mining firm made attempts to recover the funds through liaising with the hackers. In particular, the exposé by Arkham shows that each of the multiple wallets used by the hackers received an OP_RETURN message seeking to negotiate the return of the stolen assets.
“Each hacker address received the OP_RETURN message, shown in the screenshots, in which LuBian asks the hacker to return their funds,” Arkham wrote.
Arkham further observed that LuBian spent a total of 1.4 BTC across 1,516 different transactions to send the OP_RETURN messages. This confirms that the messages did not originate from another hacker who had brute-forced the private keys.
According to Arkham Intelligence, the origin of the hack could be the use of a flawed private key generation algorithm by LuBian. The analytics platform claims that the hackers exploited this vulnerability to steal the funds from the mining pool. However, nothing is confirmed yet!
“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,” Arkham speculated.
LuBian Stills Holds 11,886 BTC
As confirmed by Arkham, LuBian did not lose all their Bitcoin. In fact, the firm rotated their remaining assets into different wallets on December 31, 2020. As of this writing, the Chinese mining pool holds a total of 11,886 Bitcoin, which remained after the hack. These coins are now worth over $1.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the hackers are still holding onto the stolen crypto assets. The latest known movement of the BTC is July 2024 being a wallet consolidation by the hackers. At the moment, the stolen stash now puts LuBian hackers as the 13th largest Bitcoin holders worldwide. The hackers now hold more BTC than Mt.Gox hacker.
The revelation by Arkham now confirms the LuBian hack dating back to 2020 as the largest crypto hack in history, pushing ByBit’s hack to second largest position.
However, this exposé also reminds us of the impending danger looming in the crypto market, especially as crypto matures to be a big player in the finance sector. With rising hacks, crypto firms must review system infrastructure and security measures to prevent falling victims. Furthermore, holders must remain vigilant as scams and crypto kidnappings surge.
#blockchain #crypto, #decentralized, #distributed, #ledger
