Chinese Court Moves to Confiscate Over 61,800 Bitcoin Seized in UK Fraud Case

The Tianjin Second Intermediate People's Court has accepted a prosecutors' application to confiscate over 61,800 Bitcoin alongside other cryptocurrencies seized by British authorities, opening a six-month registration window for affected victims. The digital assets are tied to a 40.38 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) investment fraud scheme orchestrated by Qian Zhimin between 2014 and 2017 through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, causing nearly 20 billion yuan in losses across 102,000 investors. The Chinese legal action follows a UK High Court ruling determining that Chinese law governs victims' property claims to the seized cryptocurrency stockpile.