Chinese victims of an investment fraud have suffered a setback in their attempt to recover 61,000 Bitcoin seized by British authorities. London’s High Court ruled that Chinese law must be used first to determine whether the claimants have property rights in the cryptocurrency.
The decision does not settle who ultimately owns the Bitcoin or how the assets will be distributed. Instead, it determines which legal system will govern the victims’ ownership claims in the next stage of the proceedings.
Court rejects English-law argument
Justice Mark Turner rejected requests to apply English law, or a mixture of English and Chinese law, to the dispute. The claimants had argued for English law because it might have enabled them to assert direct ownership of the Bitcoin. That could have put them in a stronger position than creditors seeking compensation.
Turner concluded that the key events connected to the alleged losses took place in China. The victims transferred their money there, and the contractual relationships connected to the investment scheme were formed there, according to the judgment.
The case involves an alleged investment fraud organized by Zhimin Qian between 2014 and 2017. British authorities later seized the Bitcoin during a money-laundering investigation. The cryptocurrency is now worth more than $5 billion, according to Cointelegraph, making the legal dispute especially significant for the people seeking redress.
Earlier this year, victims challenged a proposed compensation arrangement linked to a Chinese redress scheme. They argued that the structure could result in British authorities retaining a substantial share of the gains produced by Bitcoin’s rise in value.
Appeal and next legal steps
Fieldfisher, the law firm representing claimants, is pursuing an appeal against Turner’s ruling, according to reporting cited by Cointelegraph.
The dispute will remain in London’s High Court rather than being transferred to China. The next phase is expected to involve expert evidence on Chinese law. That process will assess whether individual claimants can establish legally recognized interests in the seized Bitcoin.
The Crown Prosecution Service said a future hearing would consider how Chinese law applies and whether any victims can demonstrate an interest in the assets. The latest ruling therefore narrows the legal route but does not decide the validity of the claims themselves.
The alleged fraud reportedly affected more than 128,000 investors. Candey, another law firm involved in the case, represented about 5,700 victims in earlier proceedings. Prosecutors have previously argued that some claims could enable a smaller group of victims and litigation funders to recover more than their actual losses.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 09:44 on October 13, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $83,552.906528759, up 0.3% over 24 hours but down 2.71% over seven days.
Other tracked assets showed mixed performance:
- Sei was priced at $0.0634999452, down 8.1% in 24 hours and 13.83% over seven days.
- Basic Attention Token stood at $0.1763581408, up 21.77% in 24 hours and 68.54% over seven days.
- Nesa was priced at $0.1397041155, down 1.42% over 24 hours and 0.99% over seven days.
The Bitcoin price matters to the dispute because changes in the asset’s value affect the size of the pool at the center of the compensation arguments. However, the court’s ruling concerned the applicable law, not Bitcoin’s market outlook or final distribution.
