Over 127,000 BTC Theft Incident Unveiled, Possibly the Largest Bitcoin Heist in History

Recently, a major Bitcoin theft incident that had been buried for nearly 5 years was exposed, involving an amount of up to 127,000 Bitcoins, which is approximately $14.5 billion at current market value. This incident is considered to be the largest Bitcoin theft case to date.

According to data platform analysis, this theft incident occurred in December 2020, and the victim was a once-influential Bitcoin mining pool. At its peak, the pool controlled about 6% of the total Bitcoin network hash rate, with the main mining machines deployed in China and Iran.

The sequence of events is as follows:

In early 2020, this mining pool began operations and quickly became one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools in the world. It is reported that the mining pool was founded and managed by Chinese miners and is privately owned. Data shows that the mining activities of this pool started in March 2020, and it produced its first block in April. By May, its hash rate accounted for nearly 6% of the total Bitcoin network hash rate.

However, the good times didn't last long. On December 28, 2020, the mining pool suffered a hacker attack, with over 90% of the Bitcoin stolen. Just one day later, about 6 million dollars worth of Bitcoin and USDT were transferred from an active address of the mining pool. On December 31, the mining pool had to transfer the remaining funds to other wallets to ensure safety.

It is worth noting that the mining pool has attempted to communicate with the hacker several times through messages on the blockchain, pleading for the return of the stolen funds. These messages were sent a total of 1516 times, costing 1.4 Bitcoins, demonstrating the mining pool's anxiety and helplessness.

Analysis suggests that the mining pool may have used an algorithm for generating private keys that is susceptible to brute-force attacks, which became a breakthrough point for hackers.

Currently, data shows that addresses related to mining pools still hold 11,886 Bitcoins, worth approximately $1.36 billion. Meanwhile, the hacker addresses hold all the stolen Bitcoins, with their most recent activity being a fund consolidation conducted in July 2024.

This incident caused a loss of approximately $3.5 billion at the time, making it the largest known cryptocurrency theft. Due to the rise in Bitcoin prices, the current value of the stolen assets has reached an astonishing $14.5 billion, making the hacker the 13th largest individual holder of Bitcoin, even surpassing the hacker from the infamous Mt. Gox exchange theft.

Interestingly, it has been reported that the mining pool later underwent a brand upgrade. Between May 2020 and February 2021, the mining pool appeared to be operating at full capacity, averaging 174 blocks mined per month, accumulating more than 16,200 Bitcoins. At the peak of Bitcoin prices in April 2021, these Bitcoins were worth over $1 billion.

However, this once leading mining pool has now ceased operations, leaving behind the history of the "largest Bitcoin theft in history" that has been dormant for 5 years, which is truly lamentable. This event serves as a reminder that in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies, security remains an important issue that cannot be ignored.