Unveiling the $3.5B Bitcoin Heist: The Epic Saga of LuBian’s Downfall 🕵️‍♂️💰

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Arkham Intelligence, a beacon of light in the murky waters of blockchain data, has stumbled upon a tale that rivals the greatest epics of human folly and greed. It seems that in the winter of 2020, when the world was already shrouded in uncertainty, a Chinese mining pool named LuBian, with tentacles stretching into Iran, suffered a heist so grand that it might as well have been orchestrated by the gods themselves. According to the latest whispers from the digital underworld, 127,426 BTC, worth a staggering $3.5 billion at the time, vanished into thin air. Today, with Bitcoin’s meteoric rise, those same coins are now valued at a mind-boggling $14.5 billion. 🤯

LuBian, once a titan in the realm of Bitcoin mining, chose silence over transparency, never once acknowledging the breach to the public. The hacker, a shadowy figure in the annals of crypto crime, has similarly remained silent. The stolen funds lay dormant, hidden like a dragon’s hoard, until Arkham’s keen eyes brought them back into the light. This revelation has ignited a firestorm of debate within the crypto community, casting a harsh light on the vulnerabilities that still plague our industry, especially in mining and custodial operations. 🔒🚫

The magnitude of this theft dwarfs even the legendary Mt. Gox incident, where a mere 25,000 BTC were pilfered. As Arkham continues to trace the movements of these ill-gotten gains, the incident raises troubling questions about the state of our digital fortresses. How can we trust the very foundations of our financial system when such colossal breaches go unnoticed for years? 🤔

How LuBian Lost Over 127,000 BTC To A Key Vulnerability

LuBian, a name once synonymous with power and influence in the Bitcoin mining world, controlled nearly 6% of the network’s total hash-rate as of May 2020. But in the blink of an eye, their empire crumbled. On December 28, 2020, a catastrophic security breach saw LuBian lose over 90% of their BTC reserves in a single, devastating strike. The next day, December 29, the hacker struck again, siphoning an additional $6 million in BTC and USDT from a LuBian address on Bitcoin’s Omni layer. 🚀💥

In a last-ditch effort to salvage what little remained, LuBian scrambled to rotate the surviving assets to recovery wallets on December 31. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and they even attempted to reach out to the hacker directly through the blockchain, embedding pleas in OP_RETURN messages within transactions. They spent 1.4 BTC across 1,516 transactions, a testament to their genuine efforts—or perhaps a futile cry into the void. 📝🙏

Arkham’s investigation has traced the root of this disaster to a critical flaw in LuBian’s private key generation process. It appears that their algorithm was as secure as a sieve, leaving them vulnerable to brute-force attacks. The hackers, seizing their opportunity, drained 127,426 BTC, leaving LuBian with a mere 11,886 BTC—worth $1.35 billion today—to show for their once-mighty reign. 🗝️🚫

The hacker’s last known activity was a wallet consolidation in July 2024, and the stolen coins remain untouched, a ticking time bomb in the crypto community. This breach serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present threats in blockchain security and the urgent need for robust key management practices. 💥🔒

Bitcoin Weekly Close Will Set The Tone For August

As Bitcoin approaches a pivotal weekly close, the market is on tenterhooks. After breaking out of its consolidation range, the price dipped below the crucial $115,724 support level, hitting a local low of $112,104. At the moment, BTC is trading around $112,726, just above the weekly 50-day moving average at $90,459. The 100-day and 200-day moving averages, well below the current price, suggest a strong long-term uptrend. 📈📊

However, the rejection near the $122,000 resistance hints at a potential shift in momentum, with selling pressure mounting. A weekly close below $115,724 would confirm a breakdown from the two-week range, possibly paving the way for further declines toward the $110K-$112K region. This level, which served as a breakout zone in late June, could now act as critical demand support. 📉🚫

Conversely, if the bulls can reclaim $115,724 before Sunday’s close, it would signal resilience and strength, invalidating the breakdown and maintaining the bullish structure. The volume during this decline has been moderate, suggesting that the move is more corrective than a trend reversal. The next 48 hours will be crucial, as the weekly close will likely set the tone for Bitcoin’s direction in the coming weeks. 🕰️🚀

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2025-08-03 12:14