The US government seized a large amount of Bitcoin, valued at over 15 billion US dollars, from Cambodian fraud kingpin Chen Zhi and his Prince Group, on the grounds that he was involved in transnational crimes such as fraud and money laundering. It should be noted that Chen Zhi is from Fujian, China, and committed crimes in Cambodia, with the victims primarily being Chinese citizens. Every sum of money held by the Prince Group corresponds to the suffering of a Chinese family. However, the US leveraged its dominance in the cryptocurrency network to seize this massive fortune. Many people may not understand: aren’t Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies anonymous, decentralized networks? How could they be so easily confiscated by the US government? This is the topic we will discuss in this video: who is watching your wallet, and how can you evade US government oversight?
In fact, when Bitcoin is stored in a wallet, if it is a hardware offline wallet, the US government cannot take the funds unless they capture Chen Zhi or the financial officers managing Prince Group’s wallets. As I’ve mentioned in previous videos, funds are typically kept in online wallets, such as exchange accounts or independent hot wallets. Offline storage is inconvenient for transactions and prone to loss, similar to storing cash or gold bars, which is too primitive and generally not chosen by most people. For those engaged in criminal or gray-area activities, using cold wallets means that if assets are seized, everything could be lost.
For ordinary people, small-scale transactions or storage in known exchange accounts for investment is relatively cost-effective. However, for those in gray industries, they prefer not to expose too much of their wealth and prioritize privacy, so they generally choose independent hot wallets for storage. This involves seed phrases, with the common practice being to memorize the seed phrase or write it on paper for offline storage. But with multiple accounts, seed phrases might be forgotten over time, or those written on paper could be lost, meaning the assets can never be recovered. So most people back up seed phrases in cloud services, such as Apple’s iCloud. Therefore, for US law enforcement to seize Chen Zhi and the Prince Group’s assets, the approach is very simple and efficient.
The US government only needs to access the social apps, communication software, exchange accounts, and corresponding cloud service accounts for Apple or Android devices of Chen Zhi and key Prince Group figures. Through technical cross-analysis and comparison, they can easily identify linked accounts and determine all important details, including bank accounts, stock or other investment accounts, cryptocurrency accounts, corresponding private key storage locations, upstream and downstream trading partners, and more. After thorough preparation, the US can effortlessly seize Chen Zhi and Prince Group assets. Not just Chen Zhi: any wealthy person whose fortune is stored in ecosystems controlled by the US, using US trading networks, whether cryptocurrency or US dollars or euros, can be found and confiscated by the US government.
US intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI can even use government power and AI to screen tycoons from massive data, identify their real-world identities, target them, fabricate charges, and strike. Those targeted either go bankrupt or pay the US massive protection fees to act as US tools and preserve some wealth. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, and its boss CZ paid the US government tens of billions of dollars in protection fees to gain limited freedom without full prosecution. But CZ was not declared innocent, and he and Binance are firmly controlled by the US government. If the US needs Binance to collect information on targets, Binance will fully cooperate.
Let us briefly outline: if you use US dollars or keep money in Western countries, including Switzerland, you must accept US government oversight, with no wealth secrets before the US—you are essentially transparent. Moreover, as soon as you use SWIFT or other networks controlled by Western countries for transactions, you enter the US government’s view. This is why many still use US dollar paper currency for trades: online transactions leave permanent traces and become security risks. But even paper currency trades are only relatively safe; the US government still has systematic ways to track your wealth.
So, is there a way to escape US tracking and oversight to make your wealth safer? Of course there is: you can follow my example and be poor. The poor are not worth the US government’s strikes, and they won’t waste time or energy on you. If you are quite wealthy, you still have ways to completely vanish from the US government’s view.
In this world, who is completely beyond the US government’s control? Russia and North Korea—well, if you keep money in those countries, you might as well hand it directly to the US government; they are bandit states without morals or government credibility. So the answer is simple: China. Chinese bank accounts can easily connect to international payment networks like SWIFT, with stable government, good economic development, stable currency value, and the option to hold US dollar accounts directly. However, China has foreign exchange controls, with strict oversight on enterprise and individual fund flows. Some cities are exceptions: Hong Kong and Macau. Especially Hong Kong, as a world financial center, has a highly developed financial market and serves as a key gateway for foreign capital entering and exiting China.
Due to China-US rivalry, Hong Kong’s financial market has suffered major blows, and some say it lacks Singapore’s prosperity. But Hong Kong still manages assets on a scale far exceeding Singapore’s, and its importance to China ensures a high floor. Hong Kong sits at the core of the Greater Bay Area formed by cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as a tariff entity independent of mainland China, and it is a free port with a mature financial services system. More importantly, the US government cannot control Hong Kong’s financial assets, especially those in mainland China-backed banks like Bank of China Hong Kong, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Wing Lung Bank— the US has no leverage over these. Given the tense China-US relationship, unless it involves China’s own interests, the Chinese government will not cooperate with the US government.
Moreover, China is actively promoting renminbi internationalization, and Shanghai and Hong Kong will be key hubs for digital renminbi (e-CNY). The e-CNY is a digital fiat currency backed by China’s national credibility, with many advantages of cryptocurrencies, such as support for offline storage, dual offline transactions, fast and nearly lossless transfers. It is currently being promoted globally as a key part of China’s de-dollarization efforts in trade and more. Everyone can refer to my video on e-CNY for a detailed look at its features. In short, it provides a blockchain trading system completely independent of the US government and monitored only by the Chinese government. It is technologically stable, with huge transaction volumes, low costs, and strong credibility guarantees. Before it faces strict regulation, understanding and mastering it, along with financial basics for fund flows in and out of China and Hong Kong, can effectively help you build a wealth system that the US government cannot track.
And you never need to worry about its liquidity: it can be directly exchanged for renminbi, participate in forex trading, and use traditional channels like SWIFT. Renminbi itself has strong global recognition—China is the world’s factory and the top trade partner for most countries, so you don’t need to fear your renminbi assets becoming worthless; they will always buy goods and services. If you can leverage it well alongside Bitcoin, US dollar stablecoins, and other cryptocurrencies to form a small ecosystem, in theory, neither the Chinese nor US government can easily seize your assets.
Yes, you can see the US as a black sheriff collecting protection fees, since it rules the whole city. But now this city has a second sheriff who has built his own turf; currently he doesn’t collect fees, and even if he does in the future, it won’t be as dark and brutal as the monopoly era of one sheriff. China has massive dirty money flowing to the US via cryptocurrencies, and the Chinese government has been powerless. Now, with the Chinese government pushing e-CNY and determined to de-dollarize, this may be the best historical opportunity for those wanting to avoid US government oversight. The earlier you board the ship, the more benefits you can share.