127,000 Bitcoins, worth billions of dollars, vanished mysteriously in 2020. After years of speculation, Arkham Intelligence claims to have unraveled the mystery, potentially reshaping cryptocurrency history.
Through in-depth blockchain analysis, Arkham Intelligence revealed that more than 90% of LuBian’s holdings were transferred in a single day. These funds moved to previously inactive Bitcoin wallets. Only 12,000 BTC remained with LuBian, who subsequently ceased all public activity.
Arkham also discovered that LuBian had attempted to contact the attacker by sending over 1,500 microtransactions containing negotiation messages. However, these calls remained unanswered, and the stolen 127,000 BTC have never been moved since.
Arkham’s analysis revealed that the vulnerability behind the theft stemmed from a weakness in LuBian’s private key generation. Their wallet software used an algorithm based on only 32 bits of entropy, a security level far too weak. This allowed the attacker to brute-force the private keys and drain the funds without triggering any alerts.
Compared to other major thefts in bitcoin history, the LuBian incident stands out for its sheer magnitude. With 127,000 BTC stolen, worth over $14 billion today, it’s by far the largest theft ever revealed.
Moreover, the fact that the funds have never been moved or laundered makes this theft even more exceptional. Arkham confirmed that the addresses linked to the attacker now make them the 13th largest bitcoin holder in the world.
This saga underscores the crucial importance of wallet security in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It also demonstrates how technical vulnerabilities can enable massive thefts that remain undetected for years.
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