UK High Court says Chinese law governs the basis of victims’ Bitcoin claims in Zhimin Qian case
The UK High Court has issued a preliminary ruling in DPP v Zhimin Qian, holding that the underlying rights supporting victims’ proprietary claims over Bitcoin controlled by British authorities must be determined under Chinese law. The decision, handed down on Oct. 12, 2026 in judgment [2026] EWHC 2509 (KB), does not decide final distribution and does not yet resolve the content of Chinese law or the evidence behind each individual claim. Instead, it sets the legal starting point for the next phase of recovery efforts. The ruling sits within civil recovery proceedings brought under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, while victims may separately seek declarations under section 281 if they claim that specific property, or part of it, belongs to them. The court said applicants must do more than show loss: they must establish a proprietary right in the property now under control. The judgment also rejected an attempt to rely directly on POCA’s statutory tracing framework as a standalone route to create proprietary rights, while leaving POCA’s recovery regime in place. For victims and legal teams, the next stage turns on evidence, tracing, and legal characterization. Payment records, contracts, police reports, prior registrations, exchange and bank records, and expert evidence on Chinese law are likely to be central as the case moves forward in the UK.
