Hackers Move $1.8 Billion in Bitcoin Stolen from Chinese Mining Pool LuBian to Four Wallets

In a major on-chain development, hackers have moved nearly 16,000 bitcoins—worth about $1.83 billion at current prices—from wallets tied to the hacked Chinese mining pool LuBian to four new addresses, according to blockchain analysts.

Data from Arkham, shared by Web3 researcher OnchainLens, shows the transfers were split into four major tranches. Two batches of 4,999 BTC each—valued around $540 million per transaction—were sent to separate wallets. The remaining transfers involved 3,424 BTC (roughly $370 million) and 2,535 BTC (about $274 million), bringing the total moved to 15,959 BTC.

LuBian, a once-small Chinese mining pool that later grew into a notable player in the crypto sector, has been at the center of renewed attention after analysts revisited a massive 2020 theft involving its wallets. That breach saw 127,426 BTC stolen—an amount worth roughly $3.5 billion at the time, and over $14.5 billion today.

While the full details of the original heist remain unclear, investigators have suggested that weak internal controls and opaque custody practices within smaller mining pools may have contributed to the scale of the theft. The incident remains one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history, surpassing other high-profile cases by total value at the time.

The latest movements have raised concerns among blockchain watchers, who are closely monitoring whether the transferred coins will be consolidated, laundered, or sent to exchanges. Stolen cryptocurrency funds are often dispersed through mixing services or decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to obscure their trail before being cashed out.

As of now, no linked exchange deposits or laundering attempts have been confirmed, but analysts expect continued tracking of the four new wallets in the coming days.