Chinese authorities have begun procedures to confiscate bitcoin worth about $5 billion and millions of units of XRP and dogecoin, among other cryptocurrencies, in connection with a major investment fraud case.
On Oct. 14, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that the Tianjin Second Intermediate People’s Court accepted an application to forfeit seized cryptocurrencies belonging to Chen Zhimin (첸즈민), who was found guilty of money laundering.
The court said on Oct. 13 that it formally accepted the application on Sept. 28. The assets identified by Chinese prosecutors for recovery include 61,896.41552945 bitcoin. Their value was put at about $5 billion based on recent prices. XRP, dogecoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold and bitcoin SV were also included.
The forfeiture application also covers U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds in cash, along with jewellery, bank deposits and investment portfolios. The dogecoin holdings were already liquidated by British judicial authorities and deposited into an interest-bearing account, it reported.
The process stems from a major investment fraud case involving Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology. Chinese prosecutors believe Chen illegally raised about 40.38 billion yuan from April 2014 to August 2017 by selling fake investment products that promised high returns. The number of victims was tallied at more than 102,000, and their losses were put at about 19.98 billion yuan.
Investigators believe a large portion of the funds raised was used to repay earlier investors, run the fake investment business and buy assets. The purchases included bitcoin, real estate, vehicles and jewellery. Chen left China in 2017 and moved to Britain, after which British authorities seized his cryptocurrency holdings. A British court sentenced Chen to 11 years and eight months in prison in November 2025 on money laundering charges.
Market attention has shifted to the final destination of the seized bitcoin. Britain’s High Court ruled on Oct. 12 that Chinese law should apply to victims’ claims seeking the return of the seized cryptocurrencies. The ruling alone did not determine ownership of the assets. A key issue in future proceedings is whether victims can prove enforceable rights to the cryptocurrencies.
The ruling could also affect whether victims will be compensated based on the principal amounts at the time of their losses or whether they can claim gains from bitcoin’s price rise since the fraud. The British court did not reach a final conclusion on that scope.
A Chinese court also opened a six-month participation period for interested parties in the forfeiture process. Interested parties, including Chen’s relatives and victim investors, can take part during that period. As China’s forfeiture process intersects with Britain’s ownership determination, legal disputes are expected to continue over the destination of the large seized cryptocurrency holdings and the scope of victim recoveries.