China’s Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court accepted a confiscation application on Sept. 28 targeting assets linked to convicted fraudster Qian Zhimin, according to Chinese publication The Paper. Prosecutors identified 61,896.41552945 bitcoin, worth about $5.1 billion at recent prices, along with other assets. Much of the cryptocurrency remains under British control, and the application does not transfer it to China.
Britain’s High Court ruled that Chinese law governs whether victims have ownership rights to the seized bitcoin; showing they lost money is not enough. British prosecutors are also pursuing civil recovery, which could let the U.K. retain the assets if victims cannot establish those rights. Final ownership remains unresolved.
