A London High Court judge ruled Monday that Chinese law, not English law, governs fraud victims’ property claims to more than 61,000 seized bitcoin worth about $5 billion.
Mr Justice Mark Turner sided with UK authorities in civil recovery proceedings brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions over bitcoin seized from Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang. He held that the alleged fraud, the money the investors parted with, and its consequences all occurred in China, so Chinese law must decide whether the victims hold ownership rights in the coins.
“The relevant damage occurred in China. The applicants parted with their money in China. The alleged fraudulent representations were made in China”
Mr Justice Mark Turner, London High Court
The ruling reportedly improves the government’s chances of retaining much of the seized bitcoin, because ownership under English law would have let claimants argue the coins belong to them outright. Under Chinese law, a personal creditor claim for the money paid is not enough to establish ownership of the assets.
The ruling does not decide who owns the bitcoin. A further hearing will consider expert evidence on whether any victim can establish an interest under Chinese law, unless the decision is overturned on appeal. Fieldfisher, the law firm leading the individual claimants, said it is pursuing an appeal.
The case traces to the UK’s largest crypto seizure. Qian ran a Ponzi scheme through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology between 2014 and 2017, defrauding more than 128,000 investors of roughly £600 million. She converted proceeds into bitcoin, some bought through a Huobi (now HTX) account and over-the-counter trades, fled China for Myanmar in July 2017, and later moved to London, where police seized devices used to access the coins during searches in October and November 2018. She was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison in November 2025 after pleading guilty to money laundering offenses.
About 16,000 Chinese victims have joined the UK proceedings. Under Chinese law they may be limited to their original investments plus interest, and prosecutors have said compensation could come through a redress scheme administered in China.
The seized hoard reportedly makes the government the third-largest state holder of bitcoin, behind the United States and China.
