Key points
- Chinese prosecutors have asked the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court to confiscate more than 61,800 bitcoin and other assets tied to a 40.378 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) investment fraud run by Qian Zhimin.
- The court accepted the application on September 28 and published the notice on October 13, 2026, opening a six-month window for affected investors and Qian’s relatives to join the case as interested parties.
- The coins sit in the United Kingdom, where the High Court ruled on October 12, 2026 that Chinese law governs alleged victims’ claims to the seized bitcoin.
Chinese prosecutors have asked a court to confiscate more than 61,800 bitcoin and a range of other assets tied to a 40.378 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) investment fraud, pushing the long-running Qian Zhimin bitcoin case into its asset-recovery phase. The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court said it accepted the confiscation application on September 28 and published the public notice on October 13, 2026.
The filing moves the dispute from criminal guilt toward who ends up with the coins. The bitcoin itself sits in the United Kingdom, where British police recovered it in the largest confirmed cryptocurrency seizure on record. Its value has swelled with bitcoin’s price since the seizure, turning a recovered stash into a multi-billion-dollar prize and placing it among the cross-border crypto-enabled fraud cases now moving through courts on several continents.
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The Qian Zhimin Bitcoin Case Enters Asset Recovery
Prosecutors from the Second Branch of the Tianjin People’s Procuratorate are seeking far more than bitcoin. The confiscation list published by the court also covers roughly 72,700 units each of bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold, and bitcoin SV, about 3.6 million XRP, and about 70 million dogecoin, alongside cash in dollars, euros, and pounds, jewelry, bank balances, and investment holdings. At current prices, the bitcoin alone is worth roughly $5 billion.
The case centers on Qian Zhimin, founder and controller of Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology. Between April 2014 and August 2017, prosecutors say the company sold unlicensed wealth-management products that promised guaranteed principal and high returns, raising more than 40.378 billion yuan from over 102,000 investors. Those investors lost close to 20 billion yuan. Qian fled China in 2017 and later settled in Britain.
British authorities arrested Qian in April 2024 and recovered the crypto after a years-long investigation. In November 2025, Southwark Crown Court sentenced her to 11 years and eight months for money laundering. Will Lyne, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Economic and Cybercrime Command, said after the sentencing and record seizure that “criminal assets are not safe in the UK.”
UK Court Says Chinese Law Governs the Seized Bitcoin
The confiscation bid lands days after a parallel ruling in London. On October 12, 2026, the UK High Court decided that Chinese law, rather than English law, should govern alleged victims’ property claims to the seized bitcoin. That decision shapes how any eventual recovery is assessed, including whether victims are repaid on the principal they lost or can claim a share of the coins’ appreciation.
The Tianjin court has opened a six-month window for Qian’s relatives and affected investors to join the proceedings as interested parties. Final control of the coins still depends on how the Chinese and British processes resolve, with the UK government, Chinese investors, and British prosecutors all staking claims to the fortune.
Editorial Note: Reported and edited by the Crypto India Magazine editorial team. We use AI tools to assist with research and drafting; every article is reviewed and fact-checked by our editors.
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