China accuses US of stealing billions in BTC as UK jails Chinese crypto queen
China, bitcoin (BTC), and crime are the three main ingredients in two major stories this week. The Chinese cybersecurity watchdog has accused the United States of a multibillion-dollar theft, while the United Kingdom has sentenced a Chinese national responsible for a massive BTC fraud scheme.
First, this past Sunday, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) claimed that a recent major BTC seizure by the US government amounted to theft.
As reported by Cybernews, in October 2025, the US Department of Justice seized 127,271 BTC in a case involving Chen Zhi, the suspected mastermind of an Asian scam network, and the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Cambodia.
Now, the CVERC alleges that the US “stole” the BTC from Chen Zhi as early as 2020, in what is usually considered to be a hack of the LuBian Bitcoin mining pool, which is linked to the Prince Group chairman.
According to the watchdog, after LuBian lost its BTC, the coins were held for four years before being transferred to a BTC address associated with the US government. In its analysis, later reported by the state-owned Global Times, the CVERC also claimed that not all of the seized BTC originated from illicit activities.
In either case, the US government has not explained how it gained access to the wallets. The US has yet to respond to the CVERC’s accusations.
Additionally, the watchdog urged Chinese blockchain industry players to strengthen their cybersecurity measures.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the Southwark Crown Court has sentenced Chinese national Zhimin Qian, also known as the “Crypto Queen,” to nearly 12 years in prison for her role in a major pyramid scheme in China.
As we reported in September 2025, Qian pleaded guilty to defrauding 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017 before fleeing China and converting the stolen funds into bitcoin. UK police later seized 61,000 BTC from her.
Across both cases, the US and UK BTC seizures, which are now worth more than $19 billion combined, debates continue over what should happen to the funds and whether victims of these massive scams will ever see restitution.
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