Recently, the blockchain data analysis platform Arkham conducted an in-depth investigation and disclosed a significant Bitcoin theft incident that occurred in 2020, which is known as "the largest BTC theft case in history." The victim was the influential LuBian Mining Pool at that time.

LuBian Mining Pool once held a significant position in the industry, not only establishing mining farms domestically but also expanding its business to Iran. At its peak in May 2020, this mining pool controlled nearly 6% of the total network hash rate of the Bitcoin network, consistently ranking among the top ten mining pools in the world.

However, on December 28, 2020, LuBian encountered a serious security incident. Hackers exploited a vulnerability in the mining pool private key generation algorithm and used brute force to steal more than 90% of the Bitcoins from the mining pool, totaling 127,426 BTC. Just one day later, the hackers quickly transferred a portion of the funds, worth approximately 6 million dollars.

In the face of such a huge loss, LuBian adopted an unusual response strategy. They sent 1516 transactions with OP_RETURN messages on the Blockchain, trying to communicate with the hacker. This action cost 1.4 BTC in transaction fees, but failed to elicit a response from the hacker.

As of today, LuBian still holds 11,886 BTC, worth approximately 1.35 billion USD at current market value. The last recorded on-chain activity of that mysterious hacker was in July 2024, when he performed address consolidation.

Currently, more than 120,000 stolen BTC are still under the control of hackers. Such a large amount of holdings places it 13th on the global Bitcoin holders leaderboard, which is astonishing. This incident not only demonstrates the security risks in the cryptocurrency space but also highlights the potential of Blockchain technology in tracking large-scale fund flows. As time goes on, the industry will continue to monitor the movements of this massive amount of funds and its potential impact on the market.