From the Queen's Dream to the Prison Gate, Qian Zhimin and the Absurd Scam of 60,000 Bitcoins

BlockBeats

2025-11-12 21:04:00

Collection

The specific disposal method for this large amount of Bitcoin will be decided early next year.

Original Title: The jailed $6B bitcoin fraudster who wanted to be Liberland's queen

Original Author: Proto Staff

Translation: Peggy, BlockBeats

Editor’s Note: In the history of cryptocurrency, few scams have been as absurd and large-scale.

Qian Zhimin, the Chinese woman who claimed she wanted to be crowned queen of the "micro-nation," was ultimately sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison by a British court for orchestrating a scam involving 60,000 bitcoins, totaling $6 billion.

She once fantasized about building temples in Liberland, wearing a crown, and being crowned. Now, however, she faces the collapse of the myth she wove behind bars.

The following is a translation of the original text.

From Queen's Dream to Prison Gates

Qian Zhimin's life story is like an absurd "crypto fairy tale."

The 47-year-old Chinese woman was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison by a British court for planning and leading a $6 billion bitcoin scam. After initiating and executing the scam in China, she fled to the UK in 2017. Seven years later, in 2024, she was arrested in York and admitted to multiple criminal charges in a British court the following year.

But before her arrest, her ambitions went far beyond just "making money."

According to the Financial Times, in her online diary, Qian Zhimin claimed she wanted to "ascend the throne" as the queen of the "micro-nation" Liberland, led by Sun Yuchen, and planned to invite the Dalai Lama to crown her as a "goddess." She envisioned building Buddhist temples, an airport, and a port on the 7 square kilometers of land nestled between Croatia and Serbia, even planning to spend $5 million to create her own crown and scepter.

But that’s not all. British media revealed that she also intended to win over a British duke and buy a Swedish castle to add a touch of continental flair to her "kingdom."

The problem is, Liberland is not a place that needs a "queen." This unrecognized "country" claims to be a democratic republic (rather than a monarchy), with founder Vit Jedlicka serving as president, while cryptocurrency billionaire and TRON founder Sun Yuchen has been elected prime minister five times in a row.

The Illusion of 300% Returns, the Sinking of 120,000 People

At the peak of the scam, she promised investors returns of up to 300% and claimed the project had "high-level support," even stating that investment promotion meetings could be held in China's legislative assembly—until the scam collapsed.

According to investigations, before she fled to the UK, over 120,000 people had been defrauded, with the involved funds equivalent to about 60,000 bitcoins. After that, she collaborated with a former delivery worker to launder money, and over the years, the value of this batch of bitcoins skyrocketed to $6 billion.

Currently, the whereabouts of this massive bitcoin asset remain uncertain. Lawyers have revealed that thousands of victims are attempting to recover their funds through legal means, but due to layers of transfers and local promoters' involvement, providing evidence is extremely difficult.

Reports indicate that related civil recovery cases are expected to go to trial early next year, at which point the specific disposition of this enormous bitcoin amount will be determined.