Chinese ‘Cryptoqueen’ gets 11 years for £4.2 billion Bitcoin Ponzi fraud

Key Takeaways

What was the extent of Qian Zhimin’s fraud and the way did it proceed?

Qian defrauded 120,000 Chinese language traders of £4.2 billion [$5.6 billion] through Lantian Gerui. This firm promised returns from cryptocurrency mining and well being know-how merchandise.

How does this case match into the broader crypto fraud panorama of 2025?

The Qian case represents one of many crypto business’s largest single enforcement actions throughout a document yr for digital asset fraud. Losses within the first half of 2025 reached $2.47 billion resulting from hacks and scams, already exceeding the whole for all of 2024.

A London court docket sentenced Chinese language nationwide Qian Zhimin to 11 years and eight months on November 11 for laundering billions in Bitcoin stolen from 120,000 traders. BBC reportT.

The Metropolitan Police seized what authorities described because the UK’s largest cryptocurrency haul throughout a 2021 raid on her Hampstead mansion.

The case highlights the continued fraud disaster within the crypto business. Blockchain safety firm CertiK reports that traders misplaced greater than $2.47 billion to hacks and scams within the first half of 2025 alone, surpassing the 2024 annual complete.

The £4.2 billion Ponzi operation

The BBC reviews that Qian based Lantian Gerui (Bluesky Greet) in China in 2013, promising returns from cryptocurrency mining and well being tech merchandise.

Prosecutors decided she was operating a basic Ponzi scheme, utilizing cash from new traders to pay earlier individuals. The operation focused older Chinese language residents via refined advertising and marketing.

The corporate organized mass occasions at prestigious places, together with China’s Nice Corridor of the Individuals, and exploited patriotism and social isolation amongst retirees.

“Our patriotism was our Achilles heel,” mentioned sufferer Mr. Yu to the BBC. “They mentioned they wished to make China primary on the earth.”

Small each day payouts constructed confidence and inspired traders to borrow cash at charges of as much as eight % to extend their stakes.

Mr. Yu and his spouse initially invested 120,000 yuan collectively [$16,858]dropping every part when the plan collapsed.

From Beijing to Hampstead

Chinese language authorities opened an investigation in mid-2017. Qian fled to Britain in September utilizing cast paperwork and rented a mansion in Hampstead for greater than £17,000 a month, posing as an antiques heiress.

Her Bitcoin holdings elevated greater than twentyfold throughout this era. Assistant Wen Jian testified at her personal trial that Qian spent most days gaming and procuring on-line whereas the victims had been struggling.

Qian’s diary revealed plans to purchase a Swedish citadel and turn out to be queen of Liberland, an unrecognized territory on the Croatian-Serbian border.

Police consideration got here when her assistant tried to purchase a property in Totteridge with out explaining the supply of her wealth. The next raid uncovered onerous drives containing tens of hundreds of Bitcoins.

2025: Crypto’s fraud disaster deepens

The seizure represents a significant enforcement success throughout crypto’s worst yr of fraud. Along with the $2.47 billion in losses within the first half of the yr, scams amounted to virtually $6 billion in the beginning of 2025, up from $90 million in the beginning of 2024.

These schemes shifted from DeFi protocols to memecoin initiatives.

Pockets compromises had been chargeable for $1.7 billion in stolen funds, whereas phishing assaults resulted in $410 million in losses throughout 132 incidents.

Deepfake scams utilizing AI to impersonate celebrities like Elon Musk and Donald Trump precipitated one other $200 million in losses.

The Bybit breach and Cetus Protocol exploitation alone accounted for $1.78 billion, pushing year-to-date totals above $2.5 billion within the third quarter.