GUANGZHOU - Over 540 suspects have been arrested for organizing online football gambling using bitcoin, with more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) of money involved, police in South China's Guangdong province said Wednesday.

The suspects were associated with more than 20 gangs. Seventy mobile apps and websites, as well as 250 online chat groups were shut down. Servers, computers, cellphones and bank cards were also confiscated.

Police noticed an online gambling platform that accepted bitcoin in May and launched an investigation.

The platform accumulated 330,000 members in eight months. Police arrested six key members in southwest, central and southern China, froze assets of over 5 million yuan, and confiscated virtual currency worth over 10 million yuan.

Another 20 more gambling gangs have been busted during the World Cup.