Lost Bitcoin Wallet Linked to Irish Drug Dealer Moves $39.56M in BTC

A Bitcoin wallet linked to convicted Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins moved 500 BTC, worth about $39.56 million, to Coinbase Prime after the coins had reportedly remained inaccessible because their private keys were lost.

Collins-Linked Bitcoin Moves to Coinbase Prime#

Lookonchain said in an Aug. 28 X post that Bitcoin associated with Collins was “moving again,” with 500 BTC transferred to Coinbase Prime. The blockchain tracker valued the transaction at approximately $39.56 million when it reported the movement.

At the reported valuation, each Bitcoin was worth approximately $79,120. Lookonchain linked the transfer to a group of wallets that previously held around 6,000 BTC and were believed to be inaccessible after their private keys were lost.

Blockchain data identifies transfers between labeled addresses, but Lookonchain did not provide evidence that Collins personally controlled the sending wallet or ordered the transaction. Irish authorities had previously gained access to several wallets within the same group, raising the possibility that the latest movement involved seized assets under official control.

Coinbase Prime provides custody and trade execution services to institutions, companies and government agencies. Although Bitcoin transferred to the platform could be sold, the deposit itself does not indicate whether the coins were liquidated, held in custody or moved as part of an asset-management process.

At the time of Lookonchain’s report, Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau, An Garda Síochána and Europol had issued no statement regarding the latest transaction. Without an official notice, the transfer’s purpose and the party that authorized it remain unconfirmed.

How Authorities Recovered the Lost Bitcoin#

Collins acquired roughly 6,000 BTC in late 2011 and early 2012 using proceeds from cannabis sales, according to earlier reports cited by Irish authorities and blockchain intelligence firms. Bitcoin traded near $5 during parts of that period, placing his estimated purchase cost at around $30,000 before the holdings later grew to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Instead of keeping the balance in a single wallet, Collins reportedly split the coins across 12 wallets, each holding roughly 500 BTC. He printed the private keys on a sheet of paper and hid it inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case kept at a rented property in County Galway.

Following his arrest in 2017, authorities cleared the property, and the fishing equipment was reportedly taken to a waste facility. With the paper no longer available, the Bitcoin appeared inaccessible even after the assets became subject to seizure proceedings.

Access began to return in March 2026, when Irish authorities announced that they had opened one of the wallets with assistance from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. As reported in March, the recovered wallet contained 500 BTC and transferred the coins to Coinbase Prime after remaining inactive for years.

Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau said Europol provided “highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources” during the operation. Neither agency revealed how officials opened the wallet, leaving the technical details of the recovery undisclosed in the public record.

A second wallet containing 500 BTC became accessible by May, bringing the total recovered from the Collins-linked group to 1,000 BTC. Earlier coverage of the seizure reported that the second batch took a different route, reaching a Binance deposit address that Arkham Intelligence linked to market maker Wintermute rather than Coinbase Prime.

Previous Bitcoin Recoveries Reached 1,500 BTC#

By early July, the Criminal Assets Bureau had secured another wallet with assistance from Europol, bringing the known recovery to 1,500 BTC. A third 500 BTC recovery brought the amount still linked to dormant addresses down to about 4,500 BTC at the time.

The bureau said its July operation once again involved Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. According to the agency’s statement cited in the earlier report, Europol hosted operational meetings in The Hague and provided technical and decryption assistance.

Lookonchain separately recorded a 500 BTC deposit to Coinbase Prime around the same period, with the transaction valued at approximately $30.85 million. The Aug. 28 transfer involved the same amount of Bitcoin but carried a higher dollar value as BTC traded at a higher price.

While the latest movement may indicate access to another wallet, neither Lookonchain nor any Irish agency confirmed that authorities had completed a fourth 500 BTC recovery. Treating it as an additional seizure before an official statement would therefore exceed the available evidence.

The original setup of 12 wallets, each containing around 500 BTC, helps explain why observed transactions have repeatedly surfaced in similarly sized batches. Public blockchain labels can link addresses to known entities, although those labels do not always reveal which person or agency controls the private keys when a transfer occurs.

Coinbase Prime Also Manages U.S. Seized Assets#

Coinbase Prime’s involvement provides a direct comparison for US readers, as American agencies also use the platform to manage forfeited cryptocurrency. In 2024, the US Marshals Service selected Coinbase Prime to provide custody and trading services for certain seized digital assets.

In July 2026, wallets attributed to the US government moved nearly $297 million in Bitcoin and Ether to the platform. Government wallet data showed that the transfer included about 3,940 BTC valued at $244 million and roughly 30,000 ETH worth $53 million.

Coinbase provides custody, financing and execution services through its institutional platform, so government deposits do not necessarily indicate that a sale took place. US agencies may move digital assets to consolidate holdings, comply with court orders, return funds to verified victims or prepare assets for disposal when legally permitted.

President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for forfeited BTC held by the federal government. The order says Bitcoin placed in the reserve should not be sold, while allowing agencies to comply with court orders and fulfill restitution or law-enforcement obligations under existing law.

Ireland operates under its own asset-recovery framework. The Criminal Assets Bureau targets property believed to represent proceeds of crime, while Europol can provide technical assistance to member states during investigations. Irish officials had not publicly disclosed the legal or operational purpose of the Aug. 28 Coinbase Prime transfer when Lookonchain flagged the transaction.