Whale Hunting (Part 1)

Source: The New York Times

前言：你也許從網上的財經評論員那裡聽過，剛剛被美國用軍事行動生擒（遠洋捕撈）的委內瑞拉總統馬杜羅 (Maduro) 掌權期間侵吞國家的財富，然後透過中間人 Alex Sabb 把不義之財轉換成比特幣，價值估計高達六百億美元。以下是消息來源及節錄的內容，想看全文請訂閱。借用別人的好東西，好應該註明出處。 

Whale Hunting 由兩位擅長調查報導的前華爾街日報記者 Bradley Hope 和 Tom Wright 共同創立。他們長期跟進馬來西亞「一馬弊案」(1MDB Scandal)。創立網媒 Whale Hunting 之後，繼續跟進「一馬弊案」(1MBD Scandal) 以及尋找關鍵人物劉特佐 (Jho Low) 的下落。詳情見 Whale Hunting (Part 2)，即是下文待續。

延伸閱讀／參考資料：

The $60 Billion Question: Is Venezuela Secretly a Bitcoin Superpower?

Contributors

Bradley Hope

Clara Preve

Whale Hunting (Jan 3, 2026)

https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/the-60-billion-question-is-venezuela-secretly-a-bitcoin-superpower/

Excerpt: Alex Saab may control $60 billion in Bitcoin for the Maduro regime. As Trump's naval blockade tightens, the real battle is being fought on the blockchain. 

Nicolás Maduro is in U.S. custody. In the early hours of Saturday morning, Delta Force operators dragged the Venezuelan president and his wife from their bedroom in Caracas and flew them to the USS Iwo Jima, now steaming toward New York where Maduro will face drug trafficking and weapons charges in federal court.

But as Washington celebrates the most dramatic U.S. military operation in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion, a more urgent question is emerging in intelligence circles: Where is the money?

For years, Maduro and his inner circle systematically looted Venezuela—billions in oil revenue, gold reserves, and state assets—and, according to sources with direct knowledge of the operation, converted much of it into cryptocurrency. The man who allegedly orchestrated that conversion, who built the shadow financial architecture that kept the regime alive under crushing sanctions, is not on that ship.

His name is Alex Saab. And he may be the only person on Earth who knows how to access what sources estimate could be as much as $60 billion in Bitcoin—a figure that, if verified, would make the Maduro regime's hidden fortune one of the largest cryptocurrency holdings on the planet, rivaling MicroStrategy and potentially exceeding El Salvador's entire national reserve.

The claim comes from HUMINT sources and has not been confirmed through blockchain analysis, but the underlying math is provocative. Venezuela exported 73.2 tons of gold in 2018 alone — roughly $2.7 billion at the time. If even a fraction of that was converted to Bitcoin when prices hovered between $3,000 and $10,000, and held through the 2021 peak of $69,000, the returns would be staggering.

Sources familiar with the operation describe a systematic effort to convert gold proceeds into cryptocurrency through Turkish and Emirati intermediaries, then move the assets through mixers and cold wallets beyond the reach of Western enforcement. The keys to those wallets, sources say, are held by a small circle of trusted operatives—with Saab at the center.

What Washington didn't know—and what court documents would later reveal—was that Saab had been a DEA informant since 2016, even as he built Maduro's shadow financial empire. Now, with Maduro captured, the question becomes: Will Saab cooperate again? Or will he disappear with the keys to Venezuela's stolen fortune?

Welcome to Whale Hunting, where we follow the money behind some of the world's most brazen financial crimes and expose the networks of people who enable them.

 

Whale Hunting

https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/about/

Whale Hunting is a newsletter and podcast delving into the secret worlds of money and power that we became obsessed with during our investigation into the globe-sprawling 1MDB scandal. That project felt a bit like taking the red pill and suddenly seeing a hidden dimension all around us, where little-known characters were actually pulling the strings. We wrote a book about it.

Back then, we were long-time reporters for The Wall Street Journal. Now, we’ve struck out on our own to uncover more brazen stories than ever. At Whale Hunting, we’re immersing ourselves in the murky waters of the ultra-wealthy and influential, from billionaires and kleptocrats to criminals, spies and corrupt officials. The richest and most dangerous people in the world – our “whales” – are largely unknown to the public. They certainly aren't featured on the annual Forbes rich list.

Whale Hunting is a newsletter and podcast from Project Brazen, our journalism and production studio. Project Brazen is creating books, podcasts and documentaries about unbelievable true stories. Join us, and subscribe to stay up to date with all our latest work.

（推介原因：網媒 Whale Hunting 的定位。）

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