Onchain analysts on Tuesday flagged a $35 million transfer linked to a 6,000 BTC stash tied to Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins, which had long been considered unrecoverable.
According to Arkham Intelligence data, a wallet associated with Collins transferred 500 BTC to an unknown address "3ASF4…KiaKC" in the morning hours of March 24. The wallet quickly distributed the 500 BTC across dozens of addresses, with $13.5 million deposited into Coinbase Prime.
The wallet, labeled "Clifton Collins: Lost Keys" on Arkham, had been inactive for 10 years, with its last recorded activity in January 2016.
The Irish Times reported that the move was likely carried out by the Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police force.
The Garda's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) announced Tuesday that it has seized and gained access to a wallet containing 500 BTC identified as proceeds of crime. The bureau added that Europol's cybercrime center assisted in the operation.
While Irish police have not confirmed the wallet's ownership or how they accessed the lost bitcoin, The Irish Times reported that it was one of 12 wallets held by Collins. In 2020, the CAB seized the bitcoin from Collins, increasing the likelihood of a police-led recovery of the long-lost assets.
The Garda Síochána declined to comment beyond what is stated in its Tuesday announcement in an email sent to The Block.
According to The Guardian, Collins, a former beekeeper, started growing and selling cannabis in 2005 and used the profits to buy bitcoin in late 2011 and early 2012, when it was worth just a few dollars.
By 2017, Collins had roughly 6,000 BTC stored across 12 wallets. He printed the private keys on paper and hid them inside a fishing rod case at a rented house in County Galway. Later that year, Collins was arrested by the local police and sentenced to five years in prison.
Collins reportedly lost track of the fishing rod case during his prison term, possibly due to a clear-out of the rented property.
The value of 6,000 BTC has grown astronomically since Collins first purchased bitcoin in 2011, turning an investment of roughly $30,000 into over $427 million today.
Story updated to add email response from Garda Síochána
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