Summary
- A London court ruled that Chinese law governs fraud victims’ claims to 61,000 bitcoin, worth about £3.8 billion, because the underlying scheme and losses occurred in China.
- Zhimin Qian pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 128,000 investors through a Ponzi scheme before converting the proceeds into bitcoin and fleeing to Britain in 2017.
- The ruling does not determine ownership of the seized bitcoin, but it narrows victims’ path to recovery and increases the likelihood that the British government will retain most of it; the victims’ lawyers are appealing.
A London court has strengthened the U.K. government’s chances of keeping most of 3.8 billion pounds ($5 billion) in seized bitcoin BTC$83,160.00, after ruling that thousands of Chinese fraud victims cannot use English law to claim coins.
The decision concerns 61,000 BTC seized by London’s Metropolitan Police in its investigation into Zhimin Qian, who pleaded guilty to defrauding thousands of people in China.
Qian ran a massive Ponzi scheme through her company, Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, defrauding over 128,000 investors between 2014 and 2017. She converted the stolen billions into bitcoin and fled to the U.K. in 2017.
The victims had argued that English law should apply, as it could have allowed them to claim property rights over the multi-billion-pound crypto fortune. However, in a judgment on Monday, Mr Justice Mark Turner of the London High Court sided with U.K. authorities, ruling that because the underlying fraud occurred entirely in China, Chinese law, and not English law, must govern the victims' property claims.
“The relevant damage occurred in China. The applicants parted with their money in China. The alleged fraudulent representations were made in China,” the judge said. “The contractual relationships thereby induced were entered into in China. The immediate economic consequences of the alleged wrongdoing were likewise suffered in China.”
Note that the ruling does not finally decide who keeps the bitcoin. But it narrows the victims’ route to recovering it and improves the chances of the U.K. Treasury eventually retaining the seized bitcoin.
The victims’ lawyers are appealing, according to the FT. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says a further hearing will determine whether any victims can establish an interest in the bitcoin.
Across the Atlantic, seized bitcoin have already been institutionalized as part of the national balance sheet. The U.S. established a strategic bitcoin reserve in March 2025, which includes BTC and other coins seized in enforcement actions. No single token has been acquired with taxpayer money. Addresses linked to the U.S. government hold $25.8 billion worth of cryptocurrencies, according to Arkham Intelligence.
Related Assets
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10