Susie Violet Ward, a financial analyst and CEO of Bitcoin Policy UK, recently disclosed via X that victims of a Chinese Ponzi scheme are demanding the return of approximately £5.3 billion that the UK government seized from a fraudster.
The comment comes amid talks about the UK government considering the sale of over 61,000 BTC in its custody.
Chinese Victims Request Compensation
In 2018, UK law enforcement authorities seized over 61,000 BTC from a Chinese fraudster, Jian Wen. She intended to launder the stolen bitcoin to purchase a mansion in North London. After her arrest, she was charged with three counts of money laundering, which she initially denied. In May 2024, the fraudster was eventually sentenced to six years and eight months in prison after being found guilty.
There have since been controversies over the ownership of the confiscated BTC stash. The Crown Prosecution Service has requested that the High Court grant it authority over the billion-pound BTC holdings. This way, it can sell off the BTC and transfer the proceeds among the law authorities that helped crack the case.
There are also talks about the UK government selling the seized BTC to offset its economic challenges.
On the other hand, the CEO of Bitcoin Policy UK highlighted that the Chinese government and victims of the Ponzi scheme are also claiming ownership of the BTC stash. In her words, “no sale can happen while that legal process is unresolved.”
Can BTC Take Such a Sell-off?
Recall that BTC saw a peak value of about £13,200 in 2018. This means that the confiscated BTC was valued at around £805 million at the time of seizure. However, the BTC holdings seized from Wen have appreciated with bitcoin recording never-before-seen heights. This month saw bitcoin attain its all-time high above £91,000. At the time of writing, the leading cryptocurrency sold for £88,100.
Susie Violet Ward questions why reports are flying about “the idea of selling 61,250 bitcoin right in the middle of a bull market.”
Just as in the case of Germany’s BTC sell-off last year, which triggered a bearish trend for the leading cryptocurrency, the UK government selling a large quantity of BTC could cause a significant price decline.
xrp
usdt
