China’s prosecutors seek to have 61,800 bitcoins awarded to China: the coins are now in the UK, worth $5 billion
The case centers on Qian Zhimin. From 2014 to 2017, the Tianjin Lantian Gerui company she controlled sold unlicensed wealth-management products, raising 40.378 billion yuan from 102,000 investors. It ran up a shortfall of nearly 20 billion yuan, and the money went toward repaying old debts, buying bitcoin, and purchasing homes and cars. In 2017, Qian fled to the UK, where British police seized the coins—the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever confirmed in law-enforcement history.
There were two major developments last week: on October 13, the Tianjin Second Intermediate People’s Court announced that it had accepted prosecutors’ application for confiscation on September 28. There is a six-month period for claims, during which victims can come forward to assert their rights. On October 12, the UK High Court ruled that victims’ claims would be governed by Chinese law, not British law.
But don’t get the wrong idea: the coins are still in the UK, and China’s confiscation order doesn’t mean they’ll automatically be transferred back. Ownership is far from settled. At current prices, the coins are worth about $5 billion. More than 60,000 bitcoins are in limbo, creating a long-term variable on the supply side. The short-term impact on the market is limited; over the long term, it will depend on how courts in China and the UK divide the pie.
$BTC
The case centers on Qian Zhimin. From 2014 to 2017, the Tianjin Lantian Gerui company she controlled sold unlicensed wealth-management products, raising 40.378 billion yuan from 102,000 investors. It ran up a shortfall of nearly 20 billion yuan, and the money went toward repaying old debts, buying bitcoin, and purchasing homes and cars. In 2017, Qian fled to the UK, where British police seized the coins—the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever confirmed in law-enforcement history.
There were two major developments last week: on October 13, the Tianjin Second Intermediate People’s Court announced that it had accepted prosecutors’ application for confiscation on September 28. There is a six-month period for claims, during which victims can come forward to assert their rights. On October 12, the UK High Court ruled that victims’ claims would be governed by Chinese law, not British law.
But don’t get the wrong idea: the coins are still in the UK, and China’s confiscation order doesn’t mean they’ll automatically be transferred back. Ownership is far from settled. At current prices, the coins are worth about $5 billion. More than 60,000 bitcoins are in limbo, creating a long-term variable on the supply side. The short-term impact on the market is limited; over the long term, it will depend on how courts in China and the UK divide the pie.
$BTC