Chinese police from multiple cities have arrested three individuals who allegedly stole bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies worth around $87 million.
Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday that the three were busted on Aug. 15 in the provinces of Hunan and Changchun and the country's capital Beijing after a months-long investigation launched by the police.
According to the report, a self-declared victim, identified by the surname Zhang, first filed a complaint to the police in the northwestern city of Xi'an in March, alleging his computer had been hacked and crypto assets worth around $14.5 million stolen.
The police investigation, which received assistance from several unnamed internet companies, later located a suspect with the surname Zhou, who they claimed had made a remote attack to transfer the funds from Zhang's computer.
As the investigation continued, the police further identified two alleged accomplices of Zhou that they said were highly experienced hackers.
The group was further accused of having conducted a series of illegal cyber intrusions into corporate and personal networks to obtain crypto assets initially estimated to amount to 600 million yuan, or about $87 million.
The arrests come at a time when Chinese police are stepping up efforts to crack down on cybercrimes relating to cryptocurrency.
Just a month ago, police in China's Dalian city also arrested 20 suspects from an IT firm who allegedly used crypto mining malware to infect over a million computers and reportedly earned more than $2 million over two years.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.
CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
Police Arrest Hackers Suspected of Stealing $87 Million in Crypto
Published on Aug 20, 2018
by Coindesk | Published on Coinage
Coinage
Mentioned in this article
Recent News
View All
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.