Chinese prosecutors have launched a formal bid to confiscate the 61,896 BTC seized by UK authorities from Zhimin Qian, setting up a cross-border contest over Bitcoin worth about $5.1 billion.
Prosecutors in Tianjin filed the application with the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court, which accepted it on 28 September and published a notice on 13 October, according to Chinese outlet The Paper.
The court will hear the case after a six-month notice period.
What China is claiming
As well as the Bitcoin, the application covers about 72,746 units each of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin SV, around 3.6 million XRP and about 70 million Dogecoin. UK authorities have already converted the Dogecoin and placed the proceeds in an interest-bearing account.
It also covers cash in dollars, euros and pounds, jewellery, bank balances and investment portfolios.
The alleged fraud
Chinese prosecutors allege Qian controlled Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology and, between April 2014 and August 2017, sold unlicensed wealth management products promising guaranteed returns.
They allege the scheme raised more than 40.38 billion yuan, and that over 102,000 investors lost about 19.98 billion yuan. Those allegations have not been tested in a Chinese court.
Prosecutors say Qian fled China in July 2017 with computers holding Bitcoin wallets, and later reached the UK. Because she has been a fugitive for more than a year, Chinese rules allow confiscation without her being present.
Victims can apply to join the case through a WeChat mini-program. Those who do not apply can still receive repayments from any assets recovered.
The UK side
Qian was jailed in the UK for 11 years and eight months in November 2025, after pleading guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property.
UK prosecutors first told the High Court they planned a compensation scheme for victims. They later said victims could be compensated through a redress scheme run from China. Treasury officials privately discussed whether the Bitcoin could help fill a gap in public finances, according to the Financial Times.
On 12 October, the High Court ruled that Chinese law should govern victims’ claims to the coins. Law firm Fieldfisher, which represents the claimants, is seeking to appeal. The ruling does not decide whether the victims own the Bitcoin, because no evidence on Chinese law has yet been heard.
Why it is complicated
“A victim cannot necessarily recover cryptocurrency simply by proving: ‘That Bitcoin was bought with money taken from me,'” wrote David Phillips, a dispute resolution partner at London law firm SMB.
What happens next
The Tianjin court will hear the confiscation case once the six-month notice period ends. In London, the questions are whether Fieldfisher’s appeal goes ahead, and how a UK court weighs China’s claim against those of the victims, after reports that Treasury officials discussed the coins.
