China has accused the US government hackers for hacking 127,271 Bitcoins from scam kingpin Chen Zhi in 2020, in the name of law enforcement. This was right after his extradition to China on January 7 from Cambodia.
Footage of Chen Zhi, founder of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group and the alleged mastermind behind Asia’s largest scam operations, being handcuffed and escorted off a plane in Beijing was released by the Chinese state television broadcast the same day.
Record Seizure Sets Off Acquisitions of Hacking
Cambodia, on January 6, 2026, arrested the tycoon Vincent Chen Zhi and deported him to China, which has put an end to the years of speculations of whether he would have to face justice. However, as Chen’s downfall dominates the headlines, questions about what really happened with his $15 billion in Bitcoin have started resurfacing.
The US government, in October 2025, announced that it had seized 127,271 Bitcoins from China, naming it as a record cryptocurrency forfeiture. The U.S. and UK had previously coordinated sanctions against 146 individuals, with the entities linked to the Prince group.
In November 2025, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center released a report claiming that the seized Bitcoins matched the funds stolen from Chen Zhi’s mining pool in the 2020 cyberattack. The report stated that the operational pattern was “more consistent with a state-level hacker organization”, than the typical hackers looking for ways to quick cashouts.
Du Guodong, a Beijing Haotian Law Firm partner, told the media that the US authorities did not disclose how they obtained Chen’s private keys, stating that “This suggests the US government may have already stolen Chen’s Bitcoin through hacking techniques as early as 2020.”
Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics platform, mentioned that the final destination wallet belonged to the US government.
The Silence of American Authorities
Amid the acquisitions from China, the US Justice Department has not addressed these allegations. The DOJ indictment, filed in New York, has laid down a detailed description of alleged crimes conducted by Chen, from scam compounds and forced labor to money laundering. But the file doesn’t mention how investigators accessed Chen’s cryptocurrency.
This silence from the authorities is strengthening China’s claims about the US being involved in the 2020 hack.
Black Eating Black
Beijing Daily, a Chinese media, described the seizure as “black eating black”, meaning criminals preying on criminals. The publication mentioned how the US seized Chen’s Bitcoin, without any remarks about returning the funds to the global scam victims.
Prince Group, founded by Chen, has allegedly operated at least 10 forced-labour compounds in Cambodia, coercing trafficked workers into “pig butchering” scams. Cambodia revoked Chen Zhi’s citizenship in December 2025 and ordered the liquidation of his Prince Group.
However, lost in this sparring between the US and China are thousands of victims of Chen’s pig-butchering romance scams. The Treasury Department has made an estimate, stating that at least $10 billion from American victims in 2025 by the Southeast Asian scam operations.
Will the Scam Situation Affect the Crypto Market?
The present situation involving the arrest of Chen Zhi and China’s accusation of the US of the hack has led to the crypto traders, who believed in the anonymity and freedom of crypto, wondering about the safety and security of their digital assets.
While China’s accusations may or may not be established, the questions about crypto-security, state-sponsored hacking, and who controls the digital finance system linger with crypto investors.
For the time being, the fifteen billion dollars still exists on a traceable blockchain, and the scam boss, Chen Zhi, is behind bars. And the money remains with the US government. Whether they stole the Bitcoin is still a mystery.
