The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center of China (CVERC) has released a technical report detailing the seizure by the US Department of Justice of over 127,000 BTC — equivalent to over $13.3 billion at the time of writing — from businessman Chen Ji, who leads the Prince Group.
This is reported by Business • Media
CVERC stated that this is an “internal dispute among thieves.”
The Theft and Subsequent Fate of the Bitcoins
According to official data, on December 29, 2020, hackers attacked the LuBian mining pool, which was part of the Prince Group. Within two hours, 127,272 BTC were stolen, and all transactions were conducted with the same fee — experts believe this indicates the use of automated scripts. Although the exact addresses of the perpetrators were not disclosed, it is known that the originating addresses belonged to the mentioned pool.
For four years, the stolen crypto assets remained virtually untouched. Representatives of the Prince Group and Chen Ji himself have repeatedly published appeals on the blockchain, urging the return of the bitcoins, but have received no response. In total, over 1,500 messages with such appeals were posted.
Seizure and China’s Reaction
In June 2024, the assets were reactivated and transferred to new wallets, which, according to Arkham’s service, are controlled by the US government. By October 14, 2025, the US Department of Justice announced charges against Chen Ji and officially reported the seizure of the bitcoins. It was indicated that these funds were likely obtained as a result of the 2020 hack.
The CVERC report emphasizes that the US authorities may have employed “state hacking methods” to gain control over the assets. The Chinese side viewed the actions of the US as an “internal dispute among thieves.”
According to CVERC data, only a portion of the confiscated coins has a criminal origin: about 17,800 BTC were accumulated through independent mining, 2,300 BTC were obtained through pool payouts, and the rest were acquired through cryptocurrency exchanges. This structure contradicts the US Department of Justice’s claim of the completely illegal origin of all assets.
It is worth noting that earlier, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed the opinion that China could surpass the US in the field of artificial intelligence.