On July 27, the Chinese authorities announced that Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the Henan Songshan Shaolin Temple, known as the "First Temple Under Heaven," is being jointly investigated by multiple departments for suspected criminal offenses and has been restricted from leaving the country. The official announcement accused Shi Yongxin of allegedly misappropriating and embezzling temple assets and project funds, potentially amounting to billions of yuan, and seriously violating Buddhist precepts by maintaining improper relationships with multiple women and fathering illegitimate children.
At the same time, in addition to the official accusations, Chinese netizens have been widely circulating that this monk, who once visited Apple's headquarters and was dubbed the "Shaolin CEO," has been controlling massive wealth through Bitcoin and blockchain in a country where cryptocurrencies are strictly prohibited.
Shi Yongxin's Business Empire
Since becoming the abbot of Shaolin Temple in 1987, Shi Yongxin has aggressively promoted the temple's commercialization. According to public information, the temple's annual income is substantial: first, Shaolin Temple receives approximately 4.2 million visitors annually, with ticket sales alone reaching 350 million yuan; second, the meditation courses and martial arts performances created by Shi Yongxin, as well as the overseas tours of the Shaolin monks, bring in hundreds of millions of yuan each year; additionally, Shi Yongxin has registered nearly 800 "Shaolin" trademarks, with IP licensing and related cultural products generating significant annual profits.
Through a structure where he holds 80% of shares in Henan Shaolin Intangible Assets Management Co., Ltd., Shi Yongxin effectively controls 18 enterprises, involving real estate (such as the Australian "Shaolin Village" and a 452 million yuan commercial land in Zhengzhou) and over 50 cultural centers worldwide.
A Monk, Also a Crypto Tycoon?
In his pursuit and control of wealth, recent online rumors suggest that Shi Yongxin is also a blockchain and cryptocurrency OG who not only uses cryptocurrency's anonymity to transfer funds but also has S19 Pro mining machines hidden in the Shaolin Temple, reportedly mining 1,000 Bitcoins during the 2021 bear market.
Shi Yongxin Deeply Understands Blockchain
According to rumors, Shi Yongxin once discussed blockchain technology at a business association event, proposing a "merit value" model to precisely push high-value believers to meditation camps through data analysis. He planned to capitalize on Shaolin's IP by developing Non-Fungible Token digital prayer beads and licensed game skins through domestic and overseas companies, aiming to elevate the Shaolin brand valuation to "astronomical" levels. He even expressed an ideal of tokenizing Shaolin assets for indirect overseas listing, claiming this would both raise funds and propagate Buddhist teachings.
Using Mixer to Launder Money
Rumors claim that Shi Yongxin used digital currency's anonymity to convert temple ticket, incense, and commercial revenues into Bitcoin, using CoinJoin mixers to break the fund trail, and then exchanging to fiat and crypto through underground money exchange accounts to circumvent Chinese foreign exchange controls.
He was reportedly quoted as saying in a Dubai hotel: "Amitabha, it's not that I don't understand blockchain, but that blockchain doesn't understand me." Rumors also circulate that he transferred massive government subsidies to Singapore, claiming it was for dharma base construction, but converted them to Bitcoin within three days and dispersed them across multiple wallet addresses. Simultaneously, Shi Yongxin allegedly used stablecoins (like USDT) to exchange for fiat at offshore exchanges in Dubai and Hong Kong, purchasing Dubai properties, London apartments, and Australian golf courses.
Not Practicing Buddhist Law but Mining
Even more shocking are rumors that S19 Pro mining machines are hidden within Shaolin Temple, managed by a Zhang, who previously worked at an exchange and "entered the digital monastery" due to frequent bank card freezes. These mining machines were disguised as "religious cultural activity" equipment, connected to a top-ten global hash power mining pool, with wallet addresses belonging to a decentralized organization related to "Shaolin".
It is alleged that when Bitcoin dropped below $30,000 in 2021, the underground temple mining machines had already mined 1,000 Bitcoins.
Who Controls Shi Yongxin's Private Key, Controls Shaolin?
Netizens point out that after the incident, investigators found two mobile phones, a USB hard drive, and a prayer bead string with a seed phrase on Shi Yongxin. The hard drive reportedly contains 18 Ethereum wallet private keys, with a total value of over hundreds of millions of dollars.
Currently, the Chinese Buddhist Association has revoked Shi Yongxin's monastic certificate, severely criticizing him for damaging the image of monks. Although these rumors have not been officially confirmed, the seed of suspicion has been planted among the public, with some netizens even joking:
From now on, whoever controls Shi Yongxin's private key will control Shaolin.
