Wallet cluster holding 28,600 BTC linked to the Zhimin Qian money laundering case

ChainCatcher report: According to on-chain investigator Specter, a cluster of wallets holding 28,600 BTC, valued at approximately $1.8 billion, appears linked to wallets previously associated with the money laundering case involving Zhimin Qian. Several weeks ago, a Bitcoin wallet that had been dormant since 2017 transferred 1,020 BTC—valued at around $60 million—and began distributing funds across multiple addresses in a pattern consistent with money laundering activity. Following these transactions, Specter identified connections between this wallet cluster and addresses publicly tied to the investigation into UK-based Zhimin Qian. Between 2014 and 2017, Zhimin Qian orchestrated a large-scale investment fraud in China, affecting over 128,000 victims. UK authorities later traced significant proceeds from the crime to Bitcoin, and the Metropolitan Police ultimately seized 60,000 BTC—the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history at the time. In July 2021, UK authorities moved the seized BTC, creating identifiable on-chain footprints. Following the recent transfer of 1,020 BTC, Specter identified additional wallets, bringing the total held in this cluster to 28,600 BTC—valued at approximately $1.8 billion—wallets that have largely remained dormant since June 2021. Based on on-chain evidence, it remains uncertain whether these wallets are still controlled by the same actor, another custodian, or have been identified by law enforcement.