The US intends to confiscate $15 billion worth of Bitcoin belonging to a Cambodian businessman.
Date: 2025-10-17 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
Prince Holding Group founder Chen Zhi is accused of creating an international fraud network operating in more than 30 countries. According to investigators, the scheme involved defrauding investors and stealing cryptocurrency, as well as using forced labor in special camps in Cambodia. The victims were often lured into fictitious romantic relationships and then convinced to invest large sums in crypto platforms.
Federal prosecutors claim Zhi is hiding in Cambodia. If extradited to the US, he faces up to 40 years in prison. The US Department of Justice states that all of the businessman's crypto assets are already under government control and will be formally confiscated following a court ruling. Officials emphasize that access to the funds was obtained legally, through transaction tracking and blockchain analysis supported by Elliptic, Chainalysis, and Binance, and not by hacking private keys.
However, independent researchers note that two years ago, wallets allegedly linked to Prince Holding contained vulnerable private keys, potentially allowing access to funds through brute-force attacks or exploitation of key generation errors. Analyst ZachXBT noted that this could raise questions about the legality of access to the wallets if the keys were compromised.
Cryptocurrency lawyer Bryan Jacoutot proposed a more traditional theory: law enforcement agencies could have obtained the seed phrase from Zhi through surveillance or espionage, given that it is unlikely that the businessman held a single copy of it.
Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that the government does not plan to purchase bitcoins on the open market, and that the strategic cryptocurrency reserve will be replenished exclusively from confiscated assets.
The Chen Zhi case once again highlights the global scale of cryptocurrency fraud and the measures the US is taking to protect investors and recover stolen funds. Wallet security and private key control remain key to preventing similar crimes in the future.
