#数字资产市场观察 Recently, I came across a case unearthed by "China News Weekly" that seems more and more ridiculous the more I think about it. In the money laundering case involving Qian Zhimin, the total number of Bitcoin purchased was nearly 195,000 coins, yet the court's judgment only ordered the recovery of 61,000 coins. Where did the remaining more than 120,000 coins go? Based on the current coin price, that's a 75 billion hole, and the judicial document doesn't even provide an explanation.

To be honest, this is the most frightening part upon reflection. Nearly two-thirds of the assets involved have just vanished in the case files. Is it that law enforcement hasn't uncovered them? Or have they uncovered them but didn't write about it in the judgment for other reasons? Such a magnitude of asset black hole, it's really unacceptable not to provide an explanation.
What's even more magical is that Joe Ryan, a detective from the London Metropolitan Police, revealed that Qian Zhimin claimed to have a wallet containing 20,000 coins worth 12.5 billion, but he forgot the password. Can you believe it? A private key worth billions just forgotten? This is either playing tricks or was planned and hidden long ago; anyway, it doesn't look like genuine confusion.
There are too many questions left by this case. Can the 120,000 coins still be traced on the chain? Have they already been cleaned through a mixer and exchanged for fiat? Why is the judicial process only focusing on a part of it? Is it due to technical means falling behind, or is cross-border cooperation stuck? And that "forgot password" excuse, why didn't the investigators dig deeper? Is it really impossible to verify authenticity?
Looking back at the entire case, it indeed exposes the real difficulties in recovering virtual asset-related crimes. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are inherently anonymous, making cross-border transfers too convenient, and the traditional judicial system faces unprecedented challenges in evidence collection, freezing, and recovery stages. When criminals use "I lost the password" as a shield, there isn't much you can do about it.
However, speaking of which, such a significant loophole left in cases of this level does raise questions about the effectiveness of digital asset regulation. I hope the relevant departments can make the follow-up investigation progress more open and transparent, as the amount involved is truly substantial.
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