US Stole a Chinese Scam King’s $15B Bitcoin? Here’s “How”

On January 7, Chinese state tv broadcast dramatic footage: a hooded, handcuffed man being escorted off a airplane in Beijing. The prisoner was Chen Zhi, the 38-year-old founding father of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, accused of operating one among Asia’s largest rip-off empires.

Cambodia had arrested Chen the day earlier than and extradited him to China, ending years of hypothesis about whether or not the well-connected tycoon would ever face justice. But as Chen’s downfall dominates headlines, one other thriller lingers: What actually occurred to his $15 billion in Bitcoin?

The Record Seizure

When US prosecutors introduced in October 2025 that they had seized 127,271 Bitcoin from Chen, they known as it a “record” cryptocurrency forfeiture. The US and UK coordinated sanctions towards 146 people and entities linked to Prince Group—the biggest enforcement motion concentrating on cryptocurrency-enabled fraud. The message appeared clear: American justice had caught a crypto prison.

But in line with Beijing, the true story started 5 years earlier.

The 2020 Hack

In late December 2020, Chen’s Bitcoin mining pool suffered a devastating cyberattack. More than 127,000 Bitcoin—then value round $4 billion—vanished.

Chen was determined. According to Chinese state media, he posted over 1,500 messages providing large bounties for the return of his funds. Nothing got here again.

Then got here October 2025. The US Justice Department unsealed an indictment towards Chen and introduced the seizure of 127,271 Bitcoin. The quantity was almost similar to what Chen had misplaced in 2020.

“Not How Normal Hackers Behave”

In November 2025, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) launched a technical report on the incident. Their key discovering: the stolen Bitcoin remained fully dormant for almost 4 years earlier than transferring to new addresses in mid-2024.

“This conduct is clearly inconsistent with typical hackers who urgently search to money out,” the report said. “The operational sample is extra in line with a state-level hacker group.”

The blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence had tagged the final-destination wallets as belonging to the US authorities.

Du Guodong, a partner at Beijing Haotian Law Firm, informed a Chinese media outlet that the US indictment didn’t disclose how authorities obtained Chen’s personal keys. “This suggests the US authorities might have already stolen Chen’s Bitcoin by means of hacking strategies as early as 2020,” he stated.

Washington’s Silence

The Justice Department has not addressed China’s allegations. The DOJ indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York particulars Chen’s alleged crimes extensively—rip-off compounds, pressured labor, cash laundering—however says nothing about how investigators accessed his cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin requires personal keys to maneuver. Either Chen surrendered his keys, somebody near him did, or they had been obtained by means of different means. Chen has employed Boies Schiller Flexner to problem the seizure.

“Black Eating Black”

Chinese state media frames the case in stark phrases. Beijing Daily described the seizure as “黑吃黑 (black eating black)“—criminals preying on different criminals.

“The US seized Chen Zhi’s Bitcoin with none point out of returning funds to world victims,” the paper wrote. “Behind the masks of ‘world police,’ they merely wish to take a reduce for themselves.”

The Forgotten Victims

Lost within the US-China sparring are 1000’s of rip-off victims. Chen’s Prince Group allegedly ran at the very least 10 forced-labor compounds in Cambodia, coercing trafficked employees into “pig-butchering” romance scams. The Treasury Department estimates Southeast Asian rip-off operations stole at least $10 billion from American victims final yr.

The seized $15 billion might, in idea, compensate many victims. But Washington has introduced no restitution plan.

Cambodia revoked Chen’s citizenship in December 2025. His Prince Bank has been ordered into liquidation. The empire collapsed in months.

Whether China’s accusations show correct might by no means be established. But the questions will linger: about state-sponsored hacking, crypto safety, and who controls the principles within the digital monetary system.

Fifteen billion {dollars} sits traceable on the blockchain. The accused rip-off boss is behind bars. But the cash stays with a authorities that, in line with its rival, might have stolen it too.

The put up US Stole a Chinese Scam King’s $15B Bitcoin? Here’s “How” appeared first on BeInCrypto.