China's cybersecurity agency has accused the US government of masterminding a massive bitcoin theft. The alleged hack targeted a Chinese mining pool in 2020, stealing bitcoins now worth about $13 billion. This marks China's latest effort to blame major cyberattacks on the US.
In a bold accusation, China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center has pointed the finger at the American government for orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history. The theft involved 127,272 bitcoin tokens from the LuBian Bitcoin mining pool, which occurred in December 2020.
The agency described the operation as a “state-level hacker operation” led by the US, highlighting the unusual characteristics of the stolen funds. According to the center, the quiet and delayed movement of the bitcoin aligns more with government-level actions than typical criminal behavior.
This incident represents China's most recent attempt to attribute major cyberattacks to the US, amid ongoing tensions between the two nations over cybersecurity and technology. The stolen bitcoins, now valued at approximately $13 billion, underscore the growing stakes in the cryptocurrency sector.
No immediate response from US authorities was mentioned in the report, but the accusation adds to a pattern of mutual cyber blame between Beijing and Washington.