私钥不安全，12万枚比特币为何如此轻松被美国没收？

Core Insights - The U.S. government seized 127,271 bitcoins worth approximately $15 billion from a private wallet controlled by Chen Zhi, founder of the Prince Group, amidst ongoing criminal investigations [1][3][4] - This unprecedented action challenges the long-held belief in the inviolability of cryptocurrency assets stored in private wallets, demonstrating that state mechanisms can execute asset seizures even when the criminal mastermind remains at large [1][5] Group 1: The Scheme - Chen Zhi, a businessman with dual citizenship in the UK and Cambodia, is accused of running a sophisticated telecom fraud operation in Cambodia, which operates under a facade of legitimate business [3] - The Prince Group is alleged to be part of a larger "network fraud industrial ecosystem" in Southeast Asia, with U.S. estimates indicating that Americans lost at least $10 billion to such scams in 2024, a 66% increase from the previous year [3][4] Group 2: Money Laundering Techniques - The Prince Group employed a specialized on-chain money laundering technique known as the "spray-funnel" model, which involved splitting large amounts of cryptocurrency into numerous wallets and then recombining them to obscure tracking [4][6] - The seized bitcoins are linked to a significant theft from a mining company named "LuBian" in 2020, where approximately 127,426 bitcoins were stolen, indicating a complex web of illicit activities [4][6] Group 3: Legal and Regulatory Implications - The case illustrates a complete process for handling on-chain assets by judicial and intelligence agencies: on-chain tracking, financial sanctions, and judicial seizure [5][6] - The U.S. Treasury implemented sanctions against Chen Zhi and related entities, effectively cutting off their access to the U.S. dollar clearing system [6][8] Group 4: Security Concerns - The seizure raises significant questions about the security of Bitcoin, as the wallets involved had vulnerabilities in their private key generation, leading to increased predictability and potential exploitation [7][8] - The incident highlights the need for improved security measures in cryptocurrency wallets to prevent similar vulnerabilities in the future [7][8] Group 5: Regulatory Evolution - This seizure marks a shift in how state authorities can exert control over on-chain assets, breaking the myth of "unseizable" digital assets [8][9] - The U.S. is establishing a "strategic Bitcoin reserve" mechanism, indicating that seized bitcoins may be held as state assets rather than simply auctioned off, signaling a new era of regulatory oversight [8][9]