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LuBian Wallet Breaks 3-Year Silence with $1.3B Bitcoin Move, Just One Day After DOJ Crackdown – Coincidence?

A Bitcoin pockets linked to Chinese mining pool LuBian has woke up after greater than three years of dormancy, transferring almost $1.3 billion value of BTC simply 24 hours after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) introduced one of many largest crypto forfeiture circumstances in historical past, which the agency was allegedly linked to.

Blockchain analytics corporations Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence tracked the movement of 9,757 BTC, which is value round $1.1 billion, to a number of new addresses. Hours later, a further 2,129 BTC (about $238 million) was transferred, bringing the full to 11,886 BTC, now valued at over $1.3 billion.

Source: Arkham Intelligence

However, the timing has sparked curiosity about whether or not the transfer was a precautionary response to the DOJ’s crackdown or a long-planned reallocation.

Blockchain analysts word that comparable awakenings usually happen after main enforcement actions, as massive holders try to reorganize funds, improve privateness, or preempt potential freezes.

However, some market observers warning towards studying an excessive amount of into the timing, pointing to current exercise amongst Bitcoin mining corporations adjusting their treasuries amid risky markets.

These information factors present a divergence in miner technique, with some accumulating amid worth dips, whereas others liquidate to fund development and operations.

Whether defensive or strategic, LuBian’s reemergence and a $1.3 billion Bitcoin shuffle proper after a serious DOJ announcement have set off one among crypto’s most compelling mysteries of the month.

The Curious Coincidence Between DOJ’s Case and LuBian’s $1.3B Move

The timing of this transfer has sparked hypothesis throughout the crypto neighborhood, coming lower than 24 hours after U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Prince Holding Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate accused of orchestrating a world crypto fraud and cash laundering community.

The DOJ’s criticism seeks to forfeit round $14.4 billion in Bitcoin, allegedly tied to schemes run by the group’s founder, Chen Zhi.

Court filings allege that Zhi and his associates laundered illicit proceeds by way of large-scale mining operations, together with Warp Data in Laos, its Texas-based subsidiary, and LuBian in China, which ranked because the sixth-largest Bitcoin mining pool in 2020.

According to the DOJ, these corporations “produced massive sums of unpolluted Bitcoin dissociated from felony proceeds.”

Adding to the intrigue, Arkham Intelligence previously reported that LuBian had been hacked for 127,426 BTC in 2020 (value about $3.5 billion on the time). Arkham’s September report famous that 11,886 BTC had been moved to restoration wallets, which is the very same quantity that simply turned lively this week.

The reactivation of these funds, following years of silence and inside hours of the DOJ’s main Bitcoin seizure, has raised questions on whether or not the 2 occasions are linked or coincidental.

If the DOJ succeeds in its forfeiture claims, it may mark one of many largest additions to the U.S. authorities’s Bitcoin holdings up to now, additional strengthening its position as a pacesetter within the crypto area.

These developments come amid Washington’s formal institution of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), a controversial initiative looking for to transform seized property right into a sovereign digital reserve, thereby exhibiting how the crypto crackdown is evolving into crypto custody on the highest ranges of presidency.

Crypto Crackdown to Crypto Reserve: Inside the U.S. Government’s Growing Bitcoin Power

What started as a crackdown on illicit cryptocurrency exercise has quietly developed into one of many largest sovereign Bitcoin holdings on the planet.

In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), a transfer that successfully formalizes the United States’ position as a serious participant within the digital asset financial system.

The reserve is designed to carry Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies seized in felony and civil circumstances, a departure from the long-standing coverage of auctioning off confiscated cash.

By August, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimated that the federal government already controls between $15 billion and $20 billion worth of forfeited Bitcoin. Current information means that the United States now holds roughly 197,354 BTC, valued at round $22.45 billion, inserting it on the high of the worldwide leaderboard of presidency Bitcoin holders.

Source: Bitbo

China follows carefully with an estimated 190,000 BTC, whereas the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates spherical out the highest 5 sovereign holders.

In September, Congress superior a invoice requiring the Treasury Department to ship a detailed report on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve within 90 days of enactment.

The report will assess the feasibility, safety, and accounting of a government-managed Bitcoin stockpile constructed primarily from seized cryptocurrencies.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of many invoice’s strongest supporters, has said the reserve will permit the United States to “safe its money owed with a tough asset” and guarantee transparency by way of on-chain audits.

Industry figures, together with Galaxy Digital’s Alex Thorn, have recommended the reserve could possibly be formally operational before the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, the worldwide dialog round sovereign Bitcoin reserves is gaining momentum.

Nations resembling Bhutan, El Salvador, and Kyrgyzstan have both established or superior plans for state-backed crypto reserves.

The publish LuBian Wallet Breaks 3-Year Silence with $1.3B Bitcoin Move, Just One Day After DOJ Crackdown – Coincidence? appeared first on Cryptonews.

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