Irish Authorities Seize 500 Bitcoins Worth 35M Euros

Irish authorities have seized a Bitcoin wallet containing 500 bitcoins, valued at approximately 35 million euros, marking a breakthrough in recovering cryptocurrency linked to a convicted drug dealer. The Criminal Assets Bureau, with technical support from Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, announced the recovery on Tuesday, following a transfer of the funds to Coinbase on March 24, 2026.

The wallet had remained dormant for nearly a decade and formed part of a larger stash acquired by Clifton Collins, a Dublin resident sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 for cannabis cultivation and distribution. Collins, who previously worked in security and beekeeping, used proceeds from his operations across several Irish counties to purchase around 6,000 bitcoins between late 2011 and early 2012, when the cryptocurrency traded for just a few dollars each. He divided the holdings equally across 12 wallets, placing 500 bitcoins in each.

To secure access, Collins printed the private keys on a single sheet of paper and hid it inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case at his rented home in Galway. Following his arrest during a routine vehicle inspection that uncovered cannabis, his...