Zhimin Qian/Yadi Zhang-Press Release - 11th November 2025
BSQ Press Statement
Commenting generally on Ms Qian’s sentencing today, Roger Sahota said:
“Bitcoin pioneer Ms Qian, once the world’s largest female BTC holder, accepts her conviction and the mistakes that led to it. She never set out to commit fraud but recognises her investment schemes were fraudulent and misled those who trusted her. She is deeply sorry for the distress suffered by investors and hopes some good endures from the wealth her work created.”
On the impact of the case for crypto-holders generally, Mr Sahota said:
“Governments around the world are closely watching the Zhimin Qian case. Law enforcement agencies are increasingly seizing digital wallets and requiring crypto holders to prove how they funded their assets, with the risk of prosecution or civil forfeiture if they cannot. In Ms Qian’s civil case, UK authorities are applying laws focused on restoring funds to victims rather than sharing profits—meaning any surplus recovered could be retained by the State. This approach effectively turns enforcement into a potential new source of government revenue and could set a precedent for how cryptocurrency-related crime is handled in the future.”
Brief Case Factsheet
BTC Purchases
Ms Qian first learnt about BTC in 2012, and by 2014 had started her own crypto mining company Lantian Gerui.
A year later, she began purchasing BTC driven by an ambition to one day hold 210,000 BTC—around 1% of all the BTC that will ever exist.
From 2014 to 2017, she bought vast amounts of cryptocurrency believing that despite volatility the value of bitcoin would one day reach $100,000. Experts in her case have confirmed that the average price she paid through the Huobi exchange was £301.80 per BTC - a fraction of its price today.
The Fraud
Ms Qian entered guilty pleas on the 29th September 2025 to two counts of money laundering on the full facts of the Crown’s case. Between 2014 and 2017 over RMB 40 billion, which equates to approximately £4.6 billion was invested into the fraudulent scheme, by approximately 128,409 investors across China. Returns made to investors represented a significant proportion of the expenditure of money invested amounting to approximately RMB 34 billion of the RMB 40 billion invested.
Basis of Plea
On her basis of plea;
Ms Qian’s plea was accepted by the Prosecution on the understanding that her original intention had been for Lantian Gerui to operate as a legitimate investment enterprise, using her business experience to develop the commercial potential of cryptocurrency. The company was initially registered with the appropriate authorities. However, her guilty plea reflects that the company’s later activities became unregulated and unlawful, and that investors were deceived about the true nature of its investment schemes.
Ms Qian accepts that she left China with cryptocurrency that amounted to criminal property for the purposes of POCA 2002 as it constituted her and the company's benefit from criminal conduct / it represents such a benefit (in whole or part and whether directly or indirectly) and that she knew the same. She is therefore guilty of possession of criminal property in relation to Count 1.
Ms Qian accepts that at times after leaving China, she converted that cryptocurrency into other cryptocurrencies and/ or into fiat currency and is guilty of transferring criminal property in relation to Count 2.
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