UK court ruling backs government keeping $5B in seized bitcoin

A UK court ruling has improved the government's chances of permanently keeping 61,000 BTC (about $5 billion) seized by the Metropolitan Police during its investigation into Zhimin Qian, who pleaded guilty to defrauding thousands of people in China. The decision strengthens the Crown's position in the forfeiture case over one of the largest known bitcoin seizures.

No further details on the ruling's scope, the court involved, or next steps were disclosed in the initial report.