Seized but not yet returned: the fight over Britain's 61,000 BTC
The British High Court's decision of October (month 10) day 12 of 2026 applying Chinese law to 61,000 seized BTC, alongside the United States court order returning coins to Bitfinex in kind, frames the legal conditions for returning seized crypto to victims.
Updated Oct 14, 2026
The 61,000 BTC seizure and a guilty plea in the Ponzi fraud
London police seized more than 61,000 BTC in the investigation into Zhimin Qian. Qian ran a Ponzi scheme through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology that defrauded more than 128,000 investors from 2014 to 2017, converted the stolen funds into bitcoin, and fled to Britain in 2017. Police seized devices used to access the bitcoin in searches in October (month 10) and November (month 11) of 2018, and Qian pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in November (month 11) of 2025.
The judgment of October (month 10) day 12 of 2026: Chinese law divides victims' claims
High Court judge Mark Turner decided on October (month 10) day 12 of 2026 that victims' proprietary claims must be judged under Chinese law rather than English law because the fraud and losses occurred in China. The dispute is part of civil recovery proceedings brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions, with investors seeking declarations under section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 that the seized property belongs to them. The court said applicants must prove a proprietary interest in the bitcoin, not merely a repayment claim, and ownership of the coins worth about 38 hundred million pounds (about 50 hundred million dollars) remains undecided. About 16,000 Chinese victims have joined the British proceedings, and they may recover only principal plus interest without sharing bitcoin's appreciation. The victims' lawyers are pursuing an appeal.
A contrasting American decision: the in kind Bitfinex return order
About 119,754 BTC was stolen in the 2016 Bitfinex hack, and federal authorities recovered about 94,636 BTC in 2022 after arresting Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan. Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years in prison and Morgan to 18 months. A 2025 federal court decision ordered the seized bitcoin returned to Bitfinex in kind rather than converted to cash, and the move of about 264.8 BTC (about 2,300 ten thousand dollars) to Coinbase on October (month 10) day 6 of 2026 was part of the court ordered return process, not a sale.
A court stands between seizure and return
Placing the two cases side by side shows that the legal process after seizure, not the seizure itself, determines what victims receive. The British case still faces the gates of governing law and proof of proprietary interest, while the American case settled the method of in kind return. In neither case did victim recovery end with the punishment of the offenders, and the British case cannot yet support any conclusion about final ownership while ownership is undecided and an appeal is pending.
What this case does not say
The outcome of the appeal and further hearings, whether victims' proprietary interests will be recognized under Chinese law, and whether Bitfinex has completed actual repayments were not confirmed when this case was written. The size of seized assets and the method of return say nothing about bitcoin's price direction and cannot be used as a basis for investment decisions.
Sources
- UK High Court rules Chinese law governs claims over $5 billion in seized bitcoinAccessed Oct 14, 2026
- UK court ruling boosts government's chances of keeping $5 billion in seized bitcoinAccessed Oct 14, 2026
- US government moves 264 Bitcoin worth $23M to Coinbase in Bitfinex restitutionAccessed Oct 14, 2026