A Chinese woman has pleaded guilty in the world's largest Bitcoin confiscation case.
Date: 2025-10-01 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
In the UK, 47-year-old Zhiming Qian, a Chinese citizen, has formally pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining and possessing digital assets. London police reported that 61,000 BTC, worth over $6.7 billion at the current exchange rate, were confiscated from her. According to authorities, this is the largest cryptocurrency seizure in history.
Investigators have established that Qian ran a fraudulent scheme in China between 2014 and 2017. Over 128,000 people fell victim to the scheme, including pensioners, entrepreneurs, bank employees, and even judicial officials. Many invested based on recommendations from relatives or friends, without knowing the scheme's organizer. As noted by the BBC, most of the victims were between 50 and 75 years old.
Qian transferred the embezzled funds into bitcoin and left China in 2017 using forged documents. A year later, she attempted to legally transfer the capital to the UK, purchasing expensive real estate, among other things.
The investigation lasted approximately seven years, five of which she spent evading authorities. She is currently in custody awaiting trial. A final sentencing date has not yet been set, as hearings for other defendants in the case are ongoing.
The investigation has paid special attention to her accomplice, Jian Wen, who assisted in laundering the funds through real estate transactions. In 2024, she was arrested and sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
The question remains: will the confiscated bitcoins be used to compensate the victims or will they be transferred to the British government? Will Lyne, head of the Economic and Cybercrime Unit, noted that the fate of these funds has not yet been decided, but the police intend to take into account the scale of the damage caused. He emphasized that the most important thing is to acknowledge the suffering of the thousands of people who fell victim to the fraud and to demonstrate the Metropolitan Police's commitment to justice.
Meanwhile, the British media is increasingly discussing the possibility that the government will decide to keep the seized assets in the national treasury. The BBC notes that this not only involves unprecedented amounts but also sets a key precedent for the regulation of cryptocurrency circulation in international practice.
