1% Of Bitcoin’s Total Supply Has Just Been Seized By The Chinese Police

[rakitzogi]

1% Of Bitcoin’s Total Supply Has Just Been Seized By The Chinese Police

Chinese police have seized 194,774 Bitcoin (1% of Bitcoin’s total supply of 21 million BTC) worth over $3.2 Billion, in the latest operation against the infamous PlusToken scheme that defrauded investors of approximately $7.6 billion.

Additionally, Chinese authorities seized other crypto assets including 830,000 ETH, 1.4 million LTC, 487 million XRP, 213,000 USDT, 79,000 BCH, 27 million EOS, and 6 billion DOGE.

The ruling was made public by the Jiangsu Yancheng Intermediate People’s Court on November 19, giving the complete breakdown of total assets seized by the police.

The news comes four months after Chinese authorities arrested 27 key suspects deemed responsible for running the Ponzi scheme in China and South Korea. Prior to the arrest, six more people including the ring leader had been extradited back to China in July 2019.

PlusToken attracted over 2 million investors as a high-yield crypto investment for a $500 minimum deposit of crypto assets and especially targeted people most unfamiliar with crypto concepts and investments.

A report by local media stated that the criminal case was first ruled on September 22 by the high court but the details remained undisclosed following several appeals to a higher level court by some of the convicted individuals. 

The Yancheng Intermediate Peoples’ Court however denied the appeals and made the details of the case known to the public. So far, 15 people have been convicted and sentenced to serve jail terms of between 2 to 11 years and to pay fines ranging between $100,000 and $1 million.

As the biggest crypto-related Ponzi scheme prosecution case in China, PlusToken reportedly started in May 2018, according to Yancheng, a lower-level district court in China’s Jiangsu province-the first to rule on the case.

Chinese authorities are said to have been unaware of PlusToken or its magnitude until August 2019, when blockchain Security firm CipherTrace highlighted it on its theft and anti-money laundering report.

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