Overview
- The Justice Department says it forfeited about 127,271 BTC tied to Chen Zhi’s Cambodia-based “pig butchering” network, calling it the largest forfeiture in the department’s history.
- The action stems from an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn that links Prince Group to large-scale fraud and money laundering using cryptocurrency.
- Analyst tallies diverge following the move, with Arkham Intelligence estimating about 325,447 BTC under U.S. control and CryptoQuant citing roughly 316,760 BTC, while higher social-media figures remain unverified.
- The DOJ release repeatedly uses the term forfeiture rather than seizure and highlights a focus on defending victims and recovering stolen assets without specifying final disposition.
- Questions persist over whether assets will be returned to victims or held under the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established by executive order, as no public audit has clarified the government’s aggregate holdings.