$14.5 Billion LuBian Bitcoin Heist Exposed as Largest Crypto Theft in History

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has uncovered a massive and previously unknown Bitcoin theft from December 2020. The hack, involving 127,426 BTC stolen from Chinese mining pool LuBian, is now valued at nearly $14.5 billion, making it the largest crypto heist ever recorded.

At the time of the theft, the stolen Bitcoin was worth about $3.5 billion. The revelation eclipses even Mt. Gox’s infamous loss, which involved more Bitcoin but held significantly less value due to lower market prices.

LuBian: Once a Top Mining Pool, Then Suddenly Gone

LuBian entered the Bitcoin mining scene in April 2020 and quickly rose to become the sixth-largest pool globally. At its peak, it controlled almost 6% of Bitcoin’s network hash rate. The pool described itself as “the safest high yielding mining pool in the world.”

But by February 2021, LuBian had vanished without explanation. Many speculated that Chinese authorities shut it down. Others thought the pool had gone private.

Now, Arkham Intelligence believes the real reason was far more severe—a devastating hack that drained nearly all of its Bitcoin.

The Hack: December 28–29, 2020

According to Arkham’s on-chain analysis, attackers drained over 90% of LuBian’s BTC on December 28, 2020. The following day, an additional $6 million in BTC and USDT was stolen from a LuBian address tied to the Bitcoin Omni Layer.

Arkham linked the attacker’s addresses using blockchain data and OP_RETURN messages sent from LuBian’s wallet. The messages, embedded directly on-chain, attempted to contact the hacker.