Qian Zhimin pleaded guilty to two money laundering charges in September, after an investigation during which British police seized more than 61,000 bitcoin, currently worth over $US6 billion.

Between 2014 and 2017 Qian led a large-scale scam in China which involved cheating more than 128,000 victims and storing the stolen funds in bitcoin assets, the Met said in a statement, external.

Chinese media outlet Lifeweek reported in 2024 that investors, mostly between 50 and 75 years old, had poured "hundreds of thousands to tens of millions" of yuan into investments promoted by Qian.