From Queen’s Dream to Prison Gate: The Absurd Scam of Qian Zhimin and 60,000 Bitcoins

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 crypto, few scams have combined such absurdity and scale.

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

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

The following is a translated version of the original article.

From Queenly Dreams to Prison Doors

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

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

But before her arrest, her ambitions went far beyond "getting rich."

According to the Financial Times, in her online diary, Qian Zhimin claimed she would "ascend the throne" as queen of Liberland, the "micronation" led by Justin Sun, and planned to invite the Dalai Lama to crown her as a "goddess." She intended to build Buddhist temples, an airport, and a port on the 7-square-kilometer strip of land wedged between Croatia and Serbia, and even planned to spend $5 million to create her own crown and scepter.

And that's not all. According to UK media, she also planned to curry favor with 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 (not a monarchy), with founder Vit Jedlička serving as president, while crypto billionaire and TRON founder Justin Sun 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 as high as 300%, claiming the project had "high-level support" and could even hold investment conferences in China's legislative assembly hall—until the scam collapsed.

According to investigations, before she fled to the UK, more than 120,000 people had been deceived, involving funds equivalent to about 60,000 bitcoins. Afterward, she collaborated with a former food delivery worker to launder the money, and over the years, the value of these bitcoins soared to $6 billion.

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

According to reports, related civil asset recovery cases are expected to go to trial early next year, at which point the specific handling of this huge bitcoin sum will be decided.