比特币“安全神话”破灭：电诈集团150亿美元比特币被美国政府查获，分散在25个钱包却被“一锅端”，怎么做到的？专家解读

Core Viewpoint - The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against Chen Zhi, founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group, and initiated a civil forfeiture lawsuit to seize approximately 127,271 bitcoins valued at up to $15 billion, which are linked to illegal activities such as telecom fraud and money laundering [1][4][5]. Group 1: Legal Actions and Seizures - The case represents one of the largest financial crackdowns in U.S. history and marks the highest quantity of bitcoins ever seized [5]. - The DOJ has confirmed that the seized bitcoins are derived from illegal activities, specifically telecom fraud and money laundering [4]. - The bitcoins are stored in 25 non-custodial wallets controlled by Chen Zhi, which the U.S. government has successfully locked down [1][12]. Group 2: Criminal Operations - Chen Zhi allegedly operated at least ten forced labor scam centers in Cambodia, using a vast business network to facilitate large-scale cryptocurrency investment scams, resulting in losses of billions [5]. - The operation included a "mobile farm" with 1,250 phones controlling approximately 76,000 social media accounts to maximize scam efficiency [5]. - The U.S. Treasury reported that losses from online investment scams have steadily increased, exceeding $16.6 billion, with an estimated $10 billion lost in 2024 alone due to Southeast Asian scams [5]. Group 3: Money Laundering Techniques - Chen Zhi established a complex money laundering system, utilizing "money houses" to process illicit funds through techniques like "spraying" and "funneling" [6][7]. - The "spraying" technique involves breaking large sums into numerous smaller amounts to obscure the original source, while "funneling" consolidates these amounts back into fewer addresses [7][8]. - The group also used cryptocurrency mining as a means to launder illegal proceeds, claiming that profits were derived from scam victims [10][11]. Group 4: Technical Aspects of Asset Recovery - Experts speculate that the U.S. government may have gained access to the private keys through various means, including cooperation from insiders or exploiting software vulnerabilities [16][17]. - The FBI's success in tracing these assets is attributed to advanced blockchain analysis techniques, including the use of graph neural networks and multi-source data integration [14][15]. - The case challenges the notion that non-custodial wallets are immune to government intervention, demonstrating that effective asset recovery is possible through a combination of on-chain tracking and off-chain evidence collection [18][19]. Group 5: Regulatory Implications - The case highlights the need for a comprehensive regulatory framework to combat virtual currency money laundering, emphasizing the importance of legislation, technology, international cooperation, and industry self-regulation [19][20]. - Regulatory efforts should focus on integrating new asset classes like NFTs and DeFi into anti-money laundering laws, enhancing monitoring capabilities, and fostering collaboration among financial intelligence units globally [19].