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Zhimin Qian, known in the press as the “Bitcoin Queen” and also as Yadi Zhang, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison at Southwark Crown Court on 11 November 2025. She had pleaded guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property connected with Bitcoin. The $7.3 billion in the headline is not the size of the investment fraud. It is a dollar conversion of the value of Bitcoin seized in the UK, taken at the time of sentencing.
What Qian was convicted of in the UK
The UK case concerned criminal property, not the investment fraud itself. The fraud was an investment scheme that operated in China from 2014 to 2017, according to sentencing coverage. Bitcoin acquired with its proceeds was later brought to the UK and laundered, and the UK offences relate to that money.
- Plea: guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property connected with Bitcoin, entered on 29 September 2025 at Southwark Crown Court, according to 2 Hare Court’s legal analysis.
- Sentence: 11 years and eight months, reported by Court News UK and BleepingComputer.
- Additional order: a serious harm prevention order for five years after release, reported by Court News UK.
“Bitcoin Queen” is a media nickname. It is not a formal title, and it does not describe a role in any court record cited in reporting.
Why the $7.3 billion figure is misleading as a scam total
Three different money figures appear in coverage of this case, and they measure different things. The table below separates the seized-asset valuations, which are the only figures in dollars or pounds that describe the Bitcoin itself.
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| Figure | What it measures | Reported by | Date of reporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61,000 Bitcoin | Quantity of Bitcoin seized in the UK investigation | BleepingComputer | 2025 |
| About £5.5 billion, reported as approximately $7.3 billion | Value of the seized Bitcoin at sentencing. A dated asset valuation, not the amount investors paid and not a current market value. | BleepingComputer | 2025 |
| About £3.2 billion | Value of the seized Bitcoin as reported later. The figure moves with the market, so it is not a correction of the sentencing-date value. | MoneyWeek | 20 March 2026 |
The Chinese investment figures are a different kind of number. They describe money put into the scheme by people, not what the seized coins were worth. Confusing the two is the main reason the headline reads as a $7.3 billion scam.
The Chinese investment scheme
Prosecutor Gillian Jones KC gave the court figures of 128,409 investors and more than RMB 40 billion invested, as reported by Court News UK in 2025. BleepingComputer’s rounded account puts the number of victims at more than 128,000. These are the most useful measures of the fraud’s scale, and they are stated in renminbi rather than in dollars or pounds, so no sterling or dollar equivalent is given for the investor money in the reporting.
Reporting describes the scheme as operating from 2014 to 2017. The UK case did not try the Chinese fraud as such, so the investor losses are not a finding of the UK court.
Timeline of the case
- 2014–2017: the investment fraud operated in China, according to sentencing coverage.
- 2017: Qian left China and later came to the UK using the identity Yadi Zhang, according to Court News UK.
- 2018: the UK investigation began after intelligence about attempts to realise criminal assets in London, according to BleepingComputer.
- April 2024: Qian was arrested in York. Reporting says police located a large Bitcoin holding at that point.
- 29 September 2025: Qian pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court, according to 2 Hare Court.
- 11 November 2025: Qian was sentenced to 11 years and eight months.
- 20 March 2026: MoneyWeek reported the seized Bitcoin at about £3.2 billion and described the compensation dispute as ongoing.
The people sentenced alongside her
Two other sentences were reported in the same case. They are separate sentences and do not form part of Qian’s term.
| Defendant | Sentence | Offence as reported | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jian Wen, described as an associate of Qian | Six years and eight months | Not stated in the reports cited | Court News UK, imposed May 2025; BleepingComputer, 2025 |
| Seng Hok Ling | Four years and 11 months | Transferring criminal property | BleepingComputer, 2025 |
The judge’s words at sentencing
Judge Sally Ann Hales KC told Qian: “Zhimin Qian you were the architect of this offending from the inception to its conclusion, the scale of your money laundering is unprecedented.” Court News UK reports this as her sentencing remark. It describes Qian’s role in the UK offending. It is not a finding about the Chinese fraud as a whole.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who is entitled to the seized Bitcoin
The criminal sentence did not decide who receives the seized Bitcoin or its growth in value. A 2 Hare Court article from October 2025 described litigation by victims and a proposed compensation scheme. MoneyWeek reported in March 2026 that the dispute was still active.
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The most recent reporting cited here is from March 2026. None of the reporting shows that victims have been paid, or that the state has finally kept the proceeds. Check for later court decisions before treating the asset position as settled, because the seized Bitcoin’s value and the status of the claims may both have changed since then.
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How to read headlines like this one
- Ask whether a dollar figure is a sentencing-date valuation of seized assets or the total of money invested by victims. In this case they are different numbers.
- Treat any crypto valuation as dated. A figure from November 2025 and one from March 2026 can both be accurate for their own dates.
- Prefer court reporting, such as sentencing remarks and the prosecution’s stated figures, over rounded totals that combine investor money with asset values.
- Expect the compensation process to take longer than the criminal case. Seizure and sentencing do not by themselves return money to investors.
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