The crypto assets industry is once again shocked by an unprecedented theft case. According to the latest disclosure from blockchain analytics firm Arkham, a mining pool that was once among the top ten in the world suffered an astonishing security breach at the end of 2020. This incident resulted in the theft of up to 127,426 Bitcoins, equivalent to approximately 1.45 billion USD at current market capitalization, setting a historical record for Bitcoin theft cases.

The mining pool named LuBian once had operational bases in China and Iran, and at its peak, its computing power accounted for nearly 6% of the Bitcoin network, having considerable influence in the industry. However, on December 28, 2020, a catastrophic attack completely changed LuBian's fate. It is speculated that hackers may have exploited a vulnerability in the private key generation algorithm of the mining pool, successfully stealing over 90% of the holding assets through brute force.

Even more surprisingly, on the day following the main attack, the hackers conducted a secondary transfer worth 6 million dollars, further exacerbating the victims' losses. In the face of such a significant blow, LuBian took some unconventional countermeasures. They sent over 1,500 plea messages to the hackers via the OP_RETURN information function on the blockchain, pleading for the return of the stolen assets. This action not only confirmed the authenticity of the incident but also highlighted the desperate situation of the affected parties.

Despite suffering such a heavy blow, LuBian still retains about 11,886 Bitcoins, worth approximately $1.35 billion. The mysterious hacker seems to have vanished, with the last known on-chain activity being an address consolidation that took place in July 2024.

This incident once again sounded the alarm for Crypto Assets security. It not only exposed serious security vulnerabilities that may exist even in large Mining Pools but also highlighted the vulnerability of Crypto Assets when facing advanced hacker attacks. For the entire industry, this is undoubtedly a heavy lesson, calling on all participants to pay more attention to security measures to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.