「矿圈女王」吕咏双：曾掌握全球9%比特币算力，却在美国被「中东驸马」骗走6000万
Original Author: Nicky, Foresight News
Caixin published an article on June 11 titled "Female Crypto Boss Defrauded of $60 Million in US: How Did the ‘Middle Eastern Royal’ Brothers Set the Trap?" Following the clues in the article, we investigated the dramatic crypto career of this "female crypto boss," identified as Lyu.
According to a Caixin report, a wealthy Chinese businesswoman in the crypto industry was defrauded in an investment scheme in the United States, losing over $9.4 million (approximately RMB 60 million). The individual is Lyu, CEO of a computing technology company based in Southwest China. Her mining pool is said to have once accounted for about 9% of the global Bitcoin hashrate at its peak.
The report states that two brothers surnamed Al Zubair, claiming to have "Middle Eastern royal" backgrounds, orchestrated the fraud using fake identities. One of them claimed to be a "prince consort of the Middle Eastern royal family," asserting control over Middle Eastern family funds, international business connections, and resources from the US local government. The other brother mimicked a character from the American TV series *Billions*, portraying himself as a hedge fund manager. The brothers managed to contact and influence Michael Smedley, Chief of Staff to the Mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio, ultimately luring Lyu into signing a contract for the development of a crypto mining facility.
Lyu mentioned in the report is Lyu Yongshuang (Fiona Lyu), a female entrepreneur born in the 1980s. She founded Chengdu Valarhash Technology Co., Ltd., which operates two mining pools: 1THash and Bytepool.
According to Caixin, Lyu Yongshuang was born in Ningbo in the 1980s. Before entering the cryptocurrency industry, her life path had no connection to finance or technology. In her early years, she was involved in international trade and later founded a custom travel agency. An avid outdoor enthusiast, she loves traveling, diving, and sailing. In a 2020 interview, she mentioned that for a decade from 2008 to 2018, she spent more than half of each year traveling the world.
According to a previous report by TokenInsight, she first encountered Bitcoin in 2013 and immediately dove headfirst into this emerging industry. At that time, China's crypto mining industry was in its infancy, requiring miners to venture deep into the remote mountains of Southwest China to find cheap hydropower resources. Lyu recalled being one of the first to "find electricity" in Sichuan. "Conditions were tough back then, but electricity was cheap and profits were high. Everyone was very excited," she said.
In 2016, she began formally building her own mining farms. In 2017-2018, she transitioned to mining machine distribution. In July 2019, she founded Chengdu Valarhash Technology Co., Ltd. as its CEO, integrating the business into a comprehensive platform covering mining pool operations, mining farm construction, mining machine hosting, and hashrate trading. In December of the same year, the company held a product launch event in Chengdu, officially launching two mining pool brands, 1THash and Bytepool, as well as the 1TMine hashrate contract trading platform.
During its peak in the first half of 2020, 1THash ranked 7th globally among Bitcoin mining pools, while Bytepool ranked 11th. Combined, the two pools controlled approximately 9% of the world's Bitcoin hashrate. This was a staggering number at the time, meaning that for every 100 Bitcoins mined globally, about 9 flowed to her pools.
A Regulatory Ban and the Turning Point of Fate
On May 21, 2021, the Financial Stability and Development Committee of the State Council held its 51st meeting, explicitly calling for a "crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading activities."
In mid-June, the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Sichuan Provincial Energy Administration jointly issued a notice, requiring power generation companies to conduct self-inspections and immediately cease supplying electricity to virtual currency "mining" companies. This was a fatal blow to miners in Sichuan, China's largest mining hub, where hydropower prices during the rainy season were as low as RMB 0.2-0.3 per kWh, among the cheapest in the world.
According to Caixin, Lyu later told friends that it was an "extremely anxious" period. Her company had nine data centers across China, the US, Canada, Russia, and Sweden, but the core hashrate came from the several large mining farms in China. "Overnight, thousands of mining machines were forced to shut down, and hundreds of containers were waiting to be shipped out. Every day felt like burning money."
Source: Caixin
She ultimately chose the US as her first overseas destination. However, when she sailed across the ocean with hundreds of containers of mining machines to seek a new foothold in Ohio, she was met with a meticulously planned scam.
According to Caixin, in July 2021, through an intermediary, she met Zubair Al Zubair, a man claiming to be the "prince consort of the UAE royal family" with access to Middle Eastern family funds and US local government resources. Zubair recommended an industrial property to her in East Cleveland, Ohio – Nela Park – promising to supply electricity at a low price of $0.04 per kWh.
On August 11, 2021, a seemingly formal signing ceremony took place in the East Cleveland City Hall. Witnessed by then-Mayor Brandon King and other city officials, Lyu Yongshuang, full of anticipation, signed a contract for the development of a crypto mining facility. She paid $3 million to Zubair's company, "Dubai Bridge," and transferred an initial $1 million from a Hong Kong bank account.
Source: Caixin
However, this was just the beginning of a carefully crafted scam. In reality, Zubair and his younger brother Muzammil were native-born Americans with no connection to any Middle Eastern royal family. The elder brother's claim of being a "prince consort" was entirely fabricated. The younger brother's purported "hedge fund manager" title was "self-taught" by watching YouTube videos and following the American TV series *Billions*.
During their subsequent interactions, Zubair established a "close personal relationship" with Lyu. Lyu perceived this relationship to be romantic in nature. Prosecutors later noted that such personal relationships were part of Zubair's modus operandi, aimed at reducing the victim's likelihood of questioning his claims.
The scam ultimately cost Lyu over $9.4 million (approximately RMB 60 million), including contract payments and 1,067 mining machines (valued at $6.17 million) later tricked away by Zubair's brother and resold to Canada. The signing ceremony at the Mayor's office was merely a facade purchased by Zubair through bribing the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Michael Smedley.
In May 2026, the US Department of Justice announced the sentencing: Zubair was sentenced to 24 years in prison, Muzammil to 23 years, and Smedley to 8 years. Lyu Yongshuang was identified as "Victim 2" in the case.
Another Legal Battle in China
While grappling with the scam in the US, Lyu also faced another legal dispute in China – a lawsuit involving Shanghai Jincai Network Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the A-share listed company ST Zhongchang (600242.SH).
Source: Shanghai Securities News
According to reports from Economic Observer Online and Jiemian News, the trigger for the incident was Li Qunnan, then Chairman of ST Zhongchang. Between January and September 2021, Li Qunnan was suspected of misappropriating listed company funds to purchase Bitcoin mining machines and pay related hosting fees, totaling RMB 53.547 million. Of this amount, the company spent RMB 30 million on purchasing servers (Bitcoin mining machines) from Chengdu Valarhash. These purchases were disclosed in the 2021 semi-annual report as "company fixed assets used for actual operations," but an audit revealed that the relevant funds had not actually formed assets on the company's balance sheet.
In this context, ST Zhongchang's new management, in an attempt to recover losses, filed a lawsuit in the name of Shanghai Jincai in April 2022 against Chengdu Valarhash. The lawsuit sought to terminate the "Computing Technology Service Contract" signed on April 1, 2021, and demanded the return of the contract value of RMB 19.2965 million.
In October 2022, the Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone People's Court issued its first-instance verdict: the contract was deemed invalid as it pertained to Bitcoin "mining" activities, and Chengdu Valarhash was ordered to refund RMB 19.2965 million within ten days. The company appealed, but the second-instance trial upheld the original judgment.
This lawsuit, from filing to final judgment, unfolded almost concurrently with Lyu's ordeal of being scammed in the US. On one hand, the $9.4 million overseas investment was a total loss. On the other hand, she was legally ordered to refund nearly RMB 20 million in contract payments domestically. Under this double blow, the "Queen of Mining," who once commanded 9% of the global Bitcoin hashrate, faced the darkest moment of her life.
