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

BlockBeats News, August 4th. On-chain investigator Specter revealed that they had discovered a cluster of wallets holding approximately 28,555 bitcoins (around $1.8 billion), potentially linked to the 60,000 BTC money laundering case involving Alexander Vinnik. Several weeks ago, a long-dormant bitcoin wallet since 2017 suddenly transferred 1,020 BTC (around $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 the UK law enforcement in the Alexander Vinnik case.

Alexander Vinnik conducted a large-scale investment fraud in China between 2014 and 2017, affecting over 128,000 victims. Subsequently, the UK authorities tracked 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 initiated the transfer of the seized bitcoins, leading to identifiable on-chain address associations. Based on on-chain evidence, analysts stated that it is currently unclear whether these wallets are still controlled by the same group of actors, have been transferred to other custodians, or have been identified by law enforcement.