Bo Shen, co-founder of Fenbushi Capital, has announced a public bounty program to help recover roughly $42 million in cryptocurrency stolen from his personal wallet in 2022. Under the plan, individuals, white-hat researchers, analytics firms, and other organizations that make a material contribution to the recovery effort may receive 10% to 20% of any funds recovered.
The 2022 theft involved USDC, ETH, USDT, and BTC
Shen first disclosed the incident publicly on Nov. 23, 2022, about two weeks after the theft took place in the early hours of Nov. 10, 2022. The compromised wallet, ending in 894, reportedly held most of his personal digital assets. Shen stated at the time that the stolen funds were personal and did not affect Fenbushi Capital or related entities.
The stolen assets included about $38.2 million in USDC, 1,607 ETH, roughly $720,000 in USDT, and 4.13 BTC, along with smaller token positions such as UNI, REP, and LQTY. Blockchain security firms SlowMist and Beosin traced the root cause to an exposed mnemonic seed phrase, which gave the attacker direct access to the wallet.
New blockchain and AI tools have revived the case
The theft happened during the market turmoil surrounding the collapse of FTX, when on-chain investigators were stretched thin and attention was scattered across the industry. Shen said he reported the case to law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired legal counsel, but progress later stalled.
More than 1,200 days later, Shen says improved blockchain forensics and AI-powered tools have made the movement of the stolen assets much clearer. According to his statement, his team has gathered additional clues and evidence pointing to where the funds were sent after the initial theft. The assets were routed through mixing services and converted into other tokens, with some flows ending in DAI, a layering process that made early tracing significantly more difficult.
About $1.2 million has been frozen so far
Shen said on-chain investigator ZachXBT and security researcher Tayvano have already helped freeze around $1.2 million in related assets. His team is working to formally claim those funds and said the corresponding reward will be honored quickly. He also thanked Chiachih Wu, the Bitrace team, and the SlowMist team for their ongoing support.
The bounty is structured on a sliding scale based on contribution, and eligibility is not limited by background or affiliation. Shen published the full announcement in Chinese on X and invited anyone with credible information to contact his team at shenbo.case@gmail.com.
The case highlights a persistent risk in self-custodied crypto: seed phrase exposure. Even experienced investors with large holdings remain vulnerable if recovery phrases are stored or transmitted insecurely. At the same time, the permanence of on-chain records may still work in Shen’s favor as the investigation continues.