- Shenyu claims US agencies accessed 120K BTC via flawed keys
- Vulnerability stemmed from a weak pseudo-random number generator
- Over 220K wallet addresses were impacted
In a bold statement, Cobo co-founder Shenyu revealed that U.S. law enforcement agencies currently control private keys to 120,000 BTC —not by cracking encryption, but by discovering a private key vulnerability in how some crypto wallets generate keys.
Flawed Randomness Led to Predictable Keys
The vulnerability stems from a poorly designed pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) used to create private keys. Instead of generating truly random numbers, the PRNG followed a predictable pattern with fixed offsets, making it possible to guess the private keys tied to wallet addresses.
Shenyu explained that law enforcement did not hack or intrude into any system. Instead, they leveraged this predictable pattern to reconstruct the private keys—legally gaining access to wallet addresses. The impact is massive: over 220,000 wallets were exposed, and 120K BTC is already under control of U.S. agencies.
Security Wake-Up Call for the Crypto Community
This incident highlights a major risk in crypto: a secure blockchain means nothing if your private key is weak. The incident shows that even law enforcement doesn’t need to break the cryptography of Bitcoin itself—just identify flaws in the software that generates keys.
Crypto users must:
- Choose wallets built with audited and secure PRNGs
- Avoid unknown or unofficial wallet apps
- Follow updates from trusted security researchers
Shenyu’s revelation serves as a wake-up call to developers and users alike. As crypto adoption grows, so does the importance of strong key generation practices. One small flaw can lead to massive asset loss, even without a single line of code being “hacked.”
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