China Allegedly Sold the 194,000 Bitcoin Seized from PlusToken Scheme in 2019
New evidence suggests that the Chinese government may have sold off the entire 194,000 Bitcoin (BTC) it confiscated during the PlusToken Ponzi scheme investigation in 2019. While Beijing has never officially confirmed the sale, on-chain data appears to indicate otherwise.
Analyzing the Movement of PlusToken’s Bitcoin
According to Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, the seized Bitcoin was likely liquidated in 2019, based on a detailed analysis of blockchain transactions. He asserts that the funds were moved through crypto mixers before being sent to centralized exchanges like Huobi, a pattern that aligns with asset liquidation practices.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Young shared his findings, emphasizing that such a complex transfer process would not have been necessary unless the government intended to sell the Bitcoin.
“The CCP hasn’t confirmed a sale, which is why people still talk about the 194K BTC. On-chain data tells a different story: they sold everything, using mixers to distribute funds across exchanges in 2019. I trust on-chain, not the CCP,” he stated.
Rapid Decline in PlusToken Reserves
Additional research from Valkyrie supports these claims, showing that the PlusToken Bitcoin reserves, which once peaked at 171,000 BTC, dwindled significantly between August and December 2019. By the year’s end, less than 50,000 BTC remained, suggesting large-scale sales were carried out during that time.
At the time of the seizure, the 194,000 BTC held a market value of approximately $4 billion. However, today those coins would be worth nearly $19.8 billion, a staggering increase reflective of Bitcoin’s growth over the years.
Bitcoin’s 2019 Market Impact
Bitcoin price dipped to the $6,000 range during 2019 but quickly rebounded, eventually reaching new all-time highs. The sales likely contributed to the short-term price pressure observed during that period.
A Predictable Outcome
While the Chinese government has remained silent about the alleged sale, the move doesn’t come as a surprise to most crypto experts. By 2021, China had already implemented a comprehensive ban on cryptocurrency mining and trading.
Once the global leader in Bitcoin mining, responsible for nearly 60% of the global hash rate, China’s crackdown on the crypto sector signaled a clear pivot away from decentralized digital assets. Holding Bitcoin—a censorship-resistant currency—would be at odds with the Chinese Communist Party’s centralized control and regulatory stance.
This latest revelation adds to the narrative that China likely saw Bitcoin as more valuable in cash form than as a stored digital asset, opting to liquidate it early despite the potential for much higher future gains.
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