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A Bitcoin wallet believed to have been dead for more than 10 years has suddenly shown activity on-chain. This concerns the case of Clifton Collins, an Irish criminal whose story has turned into a real digital thriller. Less than 15 hours ago, 500 BTC were transferred from a wallet labeled “Clifton Collins” by Arkham to the major U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase. At the current rate, this amounts to an impressive $35.44 million.
How one of crypto's most infamous "lost" fortunes just reappeared
This story began back in 2011-2012, when Collins, having earned capital through illegal business, invested money in Bitcoin. At the time, he bought around 6,000 BTC to secure his wealth and distributed them across 12 wallets.
However, the criminal made a fatal mistake. He printed his secret keys, the seed phrases, on an A4-sized sheet of paper and hid them inside a fishing rod case.
In 2018, Collins was arrested, and while he was serving his sentence, the owner of the house ordered all of his belongings to be removed. As a result, the case containing keys to a fortune worth $425 million at current prices was believed to have ended up in a landfill in County Galway.
For years, these Bitcoins were considered permanently lost, as the keys were literally believed to be decaying somewhere under tons of garbage. However, today’s transfer of 500 BTC to Coinbase raises three pressing questions for authorities and experts:
- Have the keys been found?
- Did someone discover that very sheet of paper at the landfill, or did Collins manage to keep a copy, or was it the police?
- Where are the remaining 5,000 BTC?
And finally is the issue of legality. If all the funds are being cashed out now, it will be interesting to see how the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau will react — if it is indeed not the police moving Collins's Bitcoin to Coinbase.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
