Analyst Reveals Lai Xiaomin Case's 28,555 Bitcoin Wallet Cluster, Total Value Approximately $1.8 Billion

August 4th. On-chain investigator Specter revealed that a cluster of wallets with a total of approximately 28,555 bitcoins (about $1.8 billion) may be related to the 60,000-bitcoin money laundering case involving QuadrigaCX. Several weeks ago, a dormant bitcoin wallet since 2017 suddenly transferred 1,020 BTC (about $60 million) and began dispersing the funds to multiple addresses, exhibiting a typical money laundering pattern. After tracing these transactions, analysts identified a cluster of on-chain wallets linked to addresses previously traced by UK law enforcement in the QuadrigaCX case.

QuadrigaCX was involved in a large-scale investment scam in China from 2014 to 2017, affecting over 128,000 victims. Subsequently, UK authorities traced a significant amount of the criminal proceeds converted to bitcoin, with the Metropolitan Police ultimately seizing 60,000 bitcoins in the largest cryptocurrency confiscation in UK history. In July 2021, the UK authorities transferred the confiscated bitcoins, leading to identifiable on-chain address correlations.

The discovered wallets have remained largely dormant since June 2021. Based on on-chain evidence, analysts stated that it is currently inconclusive whether these wallets are still controlled by the same group of actors, have been moved to other custodians, or have been identified by law enforcement.