Screenshot of the cover of the report

The National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and other organizations released a report on Thursday, revealing how the US uses technological hegemony to harvest global virtual currency assets. According to incomplete statistics, between 2022 and 2025, the US confiscated virtual currency assets worth over $30 billion through various cases worldwide. Notably, the Chen Zhi case alone accounted for $15 billion in confiscated assets, representing 50 percent of the total. 

The report, titled “Top player: Analysis of global virtual currency assets extortion under the US technology hegemony,” was jointly released by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, National Engineering Laboratory for Computer Virus Prevention Technology, 360 Digital Security Group and Antiy Labs, on Thursday. 

It examines typical cases like the Chen Zhi and Zhao Changpeng cases, analyzing the technological background and security risks of blockchain, systematically exposing the logic and technical details behind the US' harvesting global virtual currency assets, while deeply dissecting its state-sponsored cyberattack methods and underlying political motives, providing insights for nations to counter digital hegemony threats.

In an interview with the Global Times, Du Zhenhua, a senior engineer at China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, introduced the background of the report, noting that according to statistics from international organizations, as of January 2026, the total market value of global digital currency assets reached approximately $2.73 trillion, with Bitcoin accounting for about $1.57 trillion. During the same period, central banks' gold reserves stood at around $5.83 trillion. This indicates that the market value of virtual currency assets has already reached approximately 47 percent of the total value of global official gold reserves — nearly half — making them a significant new financial asset. 

Using virtual assets as a key lever, the US employs tactics such as cyberattacks, rule-based containment, feigned retreats, targeted and long-range harvesting to conduct precise and large-scale digital plundering, severely infringing on the technological sovereignty, economic interests, and political security of nations worldwide, said Du. 

According to the report, the US has become the "top player" in the international virtual currency "bet" maintaining its position as the "banker" for the long term. Leveraging its technological superiority and regulatory authority, the US, with the cooperation of allied nations, has incorporated global virtual currency transactions into its regulatory framework and cross-border enforcement system based on long-arm jurisdiction. Through criminal prosecution, confiscations and fine, the US has systematically seized overseas virtual currency assets on a massive scale.

Two notable cases 

According to the report, the Chen Zhi and Zhao Changpeng cases fully demonstrate the US closed-loop strategy of "technological intrusion — regulatory coordination — enforcement action" with processes and technical details exhibiting distinct hegemonic characteristics.

Chen Zhi, the ringleader of a major cross-border gambling and fraud criminal syndicate, has been extradited from Cambodia to China, China's Ministry of Public Security said on January 8. It said that Chen's criminal group is suspected of engaging in a variety of crimes, including the operation of gambling dens, fraud, illegal business operations, and the concealment and disguise of the proceeds of these crimes, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

Chen has been placed under compulsory measures in accordance with the law, and the relevant cases are under further investigation, per Xinhua. 

The Thursday report noted that in October 2025, the US District Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced criminal charges against Chen Zhi, founder of Cambodia's Prince Holding Group, involving online scams and money laundering. The office also publicly declared the confiscation of approximately 127,000 bitcoins under his control, valued at around $15 billion at the time's market price, setting a record for the largest virtual asset seizure in US judicial history.

From a geopolitical and strategic perspective, the US operation on Chen Zhi goes far beyond the surface-level narrative of "justice enforcement" and cracking down on fraud networks in Southeast Asia. Instead, it serves as a prime example of how the US — leveraging rulemaking authority, technological tracking superiority, and global intelligence networks — systematically and precisely harvest assets from potential competitors or gray-zone forces, Zhou Hongyi, founder and chairman of 360 Security Technology, told the Global Times. 

Under the banner of "protecting victims' rights," the US directly convert the involved virtual currency assets into strategic financial reserves under its own control, accomplishing a legalized transfer: from the tail end of a criminal chain straight into national coffers, said Zhou. 

This unilateral seizure not only disrupts international law enforcement efforts and causes secondary losses to victims, but also interferes with the global circulation of virtual currency assets, destabilizes emerging market economies, and ultimately aims to consolidate the US dollar's hegemony in the digital finance sector, said Zhou. 

Th report also noted the case of Zhao Changpeng. From 2023 to 2025, the US initiated a dual-track legal action — civil and criminal against Binance, a globally renowned cryptocurrency exchange, and its founder Zhao Changpeng. The case culminated in Binance paying a $4.3 billion fine. 

Du analyzed that the enforcement logic of this case exhibits a distinct pattern of that the US first incorporates global virtual asset exchange platforms into its long-arm statute through domestic regulations, then employs technical means to secure evidence of platform violations, and ultimately achieves economic gains through hefty fines. Simultaneously, it compels platforms to undergo US compliance reforms, thereby reinforcing US' rule dominance in the virtual currency asset sector.

Throughout this process, for numerous fraud victims, it's akin to a mantis catching a cicada while an oriole lurks behind. The US government's tolerance of telecom fraud and its massive profits derived from technological hegemony have largely failed to compensate victims, effectively constituting indirect plunder of foreign assets, according to the expert. 
  
Attacking global cryptocurrency exchanges

According to the report, known as the "Empire of Hacking," the US maintains the world's largest state-sponsored hacking capabilities. Between 2023 and 2025, US-backed hacker groups conducted targeted attacks on over 20 major cryptocurrency exchanges globally. Their tactics included backdoor implantation, spear-phishing, and supply chain infiltration, primarily stealing users' wallet private keys, transaction records, and regulatory compliance data. The attacks targeted platforms across multiple countries and regions in Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Timeline analysis reveals that some of these attacks were linked to US law enforcement actions by the Department of Justice and OFAC in the virtual asset sector,” said Xiao Xinguang, founder of anti-virus company Antiy Labs.
   
The Thursday report also cited data from US Department of Treasury as showing that law enforcement actions in the virtual asset sector generate hundreds of billions of dollars in annual fiscal revenue, while simultaneously reinforcing global reliance on dollar-denominated virtual currency transactions and further consolidating the dollar's international monetary status.

Xiao said that in fact, the Bitcoin that has already been auctioned off and liquidated represents just a tiny fraction of what the US forcibly seized and plundered — far more has been turned into strategic Bitcoin reserves. The US is attempting to hedge against the global trend of de-dollarization by gaining control over "digital gold." 

Relying on its technological hegemony, the US harvests global virtual assets at will, with the ultimate goal of consolidating its own economic dominance and bolstering the international status of the dollar, said Xiao. 

Top Player : Analysis of Global Virtual Currency Assets Extortion under the U.S. Technological Hegemony