On January 7, a dramatic scene unfolded as Chinese state television aired footage of Chen Zhi, the handcuffed founder of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, being escorted off a plane in Beijing. The 38-year-old businessman had been apprehended in Cambodia the previous day and extradited to China, marking a pivotal moment in a saga that has kept observers guessing about his fate for years. Chen faces serious charges, including orchestrating one of Asia’s largest scam operations, which has cast a long shadow over the region’s cryptocurrency landscape. Yet, as his story gains traction in headlines, another pressing question remains: what has become of his estimated $15 billion in Bitcoin?
In October 2025, U.S. prosecutors hailed the seizure of 127,271 Bitcoin linked to Chen as a “record” cryptocurrency forfeiture. This coordinated effort by U.S. and U.K. authorities against 146 individuals and entities related to the Prince Group represented the largest enforcement action targeting fraud enabled by cryptocurrency. While American officials seemed poised to depict Chen as a crypto criminal facing justice, Chinese authorities have a different narrative that traces back to 2020.
The unraveling of Chen’s financial empire began in late December 2020 when his Bitcoin mining pool fell victim to a catastrophic cyberattack. At that time, over 127,000 Bitcoin—valued around $4 billion—vanished overnight. In a desperate bid to recover his lost funds, Chen reportedly sent out more than 1,500 messages offering substantial rewards for the return of his assets, but to no avail.
Fast forward to October 2025, when the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment against Chen, revealing the seizure of Bitcoin almost identical to what he had lost. In November of that year, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) released a technical analysis of the hack, noting that the stolen Bitcoin remained inactive for almost four years before suddenly being transferred to new addresses in mid-2024. This behavior, they argued, aligns more closely with actions of a state-level hacking entity rather than typical criminal hackers desperate to cash out.
Analysts from blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence identified the final wallets holding the Bitcoin as belonging to the U.S. government. Legal expert Du Guodong speculated that the indictment may suggest U.S. authorities had accessed Chen’s private keys, potentially through hacking techniques utilized as early as 2020.
The U.S. Justice Department has remained silent regarding these allegations from Beijing. The indictment details various criminal activities attributed to Chen, including scam operations, forced labor, and money laundering but offers no insights into how U.S. investigators managed to access his cryptocurrency. Since Bitcoin relies on private keys for transactions, either Chen relinquished these keys, someone close to him did, or they were acquired through other, less transparent methods. Chen has since enlisted the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to contest the seizure.
Underpinning these complex narratives, Chinese state media has portrayed the situation unambiguously. A report in the Beijing Daily characterized the seizure as “黑吃黑” (black eating black), implying that criminals are exploiting the vulnerabilities of others in the same criminal arena without regard for victims. They pointed out that the U.S. has not announced any restitution plan for the countless individuals who fell prey to the scams allegedly perpetrated by Chen’s Prince Group.
The fallout from this case has been swift. By December 2025, Cambodia revoked Chen’s citizenship, and his bank, Prince Bank, was ordered to liquidate, marking the rapid collapse of his once-thriving empire. Meanwhile, the estimated $15 billion in seized assets could theoretically assist many victims, but no plans for compensation have been disclosed by U.S. authorities.
While the veracity of China’s claims continues to hover in uncertainty, fundamental questions regarding state-sponsored hacking, cryptocurrency security, and the evolving landscape of digital finance persist. With $15 billion traceable on the blockchain and Chen now behind bars, the conversation surrounding who truly controls this significant sum—and the rules governing the digital financial system—remains unresolved.
