The UK is attempting to gain legal ownership of a $7.3 billion Bitcoin fortune, which it seized from a Chinese scammer. This scammer pleaded guilty this week, but the tokens could remain in limbo.
Although the victims are largely based in China, and some crimes took place over a decade ago, some have opened legal proceedings to win reimbursement. Britain will have to resolve these before making any concrete plans.
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The UK’s Bitcoin Windfall
Earlier this week, the UK made crypto history with its largest Bitcoin seizure ever. At $7.3 billion, it represents the overwhelming majority of the government’s entire BTC stockpile. This raised speculation that Britain could use these assets to kickstart a Strategic Crypto Reserve, alongside other plans.
According to a recent report from the Financial Times, the British government is working to keep these assets. Although there’s no explicit mention of using it to build a Bitcoin Reserve, the UK is launching legal efforts to gain legal ownership of these assets.
The question of ownership vs custody is particularly thorny in this situation. After all, a huge chunk of the US government’s crypto stockpile is due to be paid out in victim reimbursements.
These crimes were committed by Zhimin Qian, a Chinese national, and some happened over a decade ago. The victims were almost entirely Chinese citizens.
So, between the statute of limitations issue and China’s own restrictive crypto policies, why couldn’t the UK keep this Bitcoin?
At this point, is reimbursement still practical? Even if the government ends up dumping the tokens, it could still be a huge windfall for Britain.
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A Lengthy Legal Fight
Of course, from the victims’ point of view, this is a self-serving argument.
Many of them lost their life savings to these scams, and Bitcoin’s rise to the top only poured salt onto this wound. Some have already opened legal proceedings to reclaim their stolen tokens:
“The victims have been without their property for some 10 years now and are entitled to recover from the Bitcoin frozen in this jurisdiction,” claimed lawyers from Fieldfisher, a legal firm representing some of the victims.
In other words, this will probably be a lengthy process.
Lawsuits like this could take years to resolve, and the UK’s Bitcoin hoard will probably remain in limbo until these parties are satisfied. Still, though, that could also be an opportunity.
Although there are rumors that Nigel Farage wants a British Crypto Reserve, he hasn’t made any firm commitments yet.
Still, he is actively courting the crypto industry, and currently leads in polling. By the time this question gets decided, the political environment may be more favorable to radical new action.
Source: https://beincrypto.com/uk-bitcoin-stockpile-scam-victims-lawsuit/