UK Bitcoin Ruling: Chinese Law to Govern Claims on 61,000 BTC

A judge at London's High Court has decided that claims by Chinese fraud victims to 61,000 BTC held by British authorities must be assessed under Chinese law rather than English law. The coins are worth roughly $5 billion at a Bitcoin price near $83,200. The ruling weakens the victims' main legal argument and improves the UK government's prospects of retaining much of the stash. It is not the final word, however: lawyers for the claimants plan to appeal, and a further hearing will decide whether any individual victim can prove an interest in the coins.

What the Judge Decided

Mr Justice Mark Turner ruled on Monday in a case brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions, who leads the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The question was narrow but carried large consequences: which country's legal system should decide whether the defrauded investors own any part of the Bitcoin?

The victims had pushed for English law. According to the Financial Times, that framework was widely regarded as much friendlier to them, because it might have allowed them to argue that the coins were in effect their property. Turner disagreed. He found that every key element of the scheme, including the misrepresentations, the contracts and the payments, was located in China. "The relevant damage occurred in China," he wrote. He said each legal test he applied pointed to the same answer.

He also dealt with the idea of following the money into England. Because the Bitcoin was purchased in China, the judge reasoned, tracing it onto British soil cannot bring back any ownership rights that Chinese law extinguished at the moment of that purchase.

Background: The Qian Fraud

The coins come from the case of Zhimin Qian, who ran an investment scheme in China through a company called Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology between 2014 and 2017. The scheme operated as a Ponzi structure. Qian converted the proceeds into Bitcoin and moved to the UK in 2017, where London's Metropolitan Police eventually seized the 61,000 BTC.

Last year Qian admitted fraud and money-laundering offences and received a prison sentence of more than 11 years. Figures cited in the judgment give a sense of the scale:

• At least 128,409 investment contracts were signed.
• Investors put in about RMB 40.2 billion, around £4.1 billion.
• Roughly RMB 34.1 billion was later paid back out to some participants, which is typical of how Ponzi schemes keep going.

Thousands of victims have since filed applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act asking the court to recognise parts of the Bitcoin as theirs. Turner noted that the Act offers no general compensation route for crime victims, so every applicant has to show a genuine proprietary interest in the coins themselves.

Why the Treasury Is Watching

The amounts involved are large for public finances. When Qian went on trial the holding was valued at around $7 billion. The FT reported last year that unnamed Treasury officials had privately discussed whether the coins could help close a gap in the UK budget. The drop to about $5 billion today reflects Bitcoin's lower price since then, not a change in the number of coins.

Prosecutors have said before that victims could be repaid through a redress programme run from China, which would take the compensation question outside British courts.

The comparison with the United States is useful. Washington created a strategic Bitcoin reserve in March 2025, funded with BTC and other assets taken in enforcement actions rather than bought with taxpayer money. According to Arkham Intelligence, addresses tied to the US government currently hold about $25.8 billion in crypto.

What Comes Next

The ruling settles which law applies but not who ends up with the Bitcoin. Turner left the content of Chinese law, and how it is to be proven, for a later stage. The CPS confirmed that another hearing will look at how the law applies and whether any victim can establish a stake. Fieldfisher, the firm acting for the claimants, is pursuing an appeal, the FT reported.

Our view: the decision moves the balance toward the state, but several outcomes are still possible. The open questions are how Chinese law treats victims' property claims, whether the appeal succeeds, and whether a China-based redress scheme takes shape. For market watchers, the bigger unknown is what a government would eventually do with 61,000 BTC, whether it holds the coins as a reserve or sells them. Past government sales of seized Bitcoin have historically drawn close attention from traders. No decision of that kind has been announced.