On September 29, 2025, the world's largest Bitcoin money laundering case will resume, nearly a year after the first hearing last year. On October 21, 2024, at London's Southwark Crown Court, Zhang Yadi (real name Qian Zhimin, also known as Huahua), a key figure in the case, denied all allegations of money laundering using Bitcoin. Huahua's attorney, Roger Sahota of BSQ Law Firm, will continue his not guilty plea, denying all allegations of money laundering and arguing that the Bitcoin seized by authorities is not the proceeds of crime. Who is Zhang Yadi (real name Qian Zhimin, also known as Huahua)? Why does she have so much Bitcoin? Qian Zhimin is the actual controller of BlueSky Green. Founded in March 2014 with registered capital of 30 million yuan, the company marketed itself as a technology company and launched a variety of so-called "short-term investment and financial management" products, using alluring claims such as "high returns," "guaranteed profits," and "three generations of wealth." These products boasted annualized returns ranging from 100% to 300%, far exceeding typical investment returns. For example, one product claimed that a 100,000 yuan investment would yield nearly 400,000 yuan in returns after 30 months. Lantian Green attracted a large number of investors with the slogan, "Give Green three years, and Green will give you three generations of wealth." From 2014 to 2017, Lantian Green illegally absorbed a total of 40 billion yuan. In 2017, the company's products collapsed. Qian Zhimin converted the illegal proceeds into Bitcoin and transferred them overseas. He then fled to the UK using a fake passport, causing significant losses for nearly 130,000 investors. In April 2017, the Hedong Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau launched an investigation into Lantian Green. In June 2019, public security authorities announced the arrest of 50 suspects, including Lantian Green's legal representative Ren Jiangtao, with 28 of them transferred for investigation and prosecution. Public security authorities are continuing to recover the stolen assets, freezing and seizing some of the funds, real estate, and vehicles involved in the case in accordance with the law. Recovery efforts are ongoing. [Qian Zhimin from the Victim's Perspective] Yang Fei, 64, still remembers the first time he met Hua Hua in October 2015. "To be honest, I didn't believe her the first time I saw her. She was about 5 feet tall, chubby, and looked rather dull, not like someone with a capable career. I thought, 'Forget it! How can this person help ordinary people make money?' I was ready to give up, but as soon as she opened her mouth, I was captivated," Yang Fei said. Huahua spoke with a steady, confident voice, never stuttering. She introduced BlueSky Green's Bitcoin business to Yang Fei, explaining that Bitcoin is the digital currency equivalent of gold, immune to inflation and guaranteed to continue rising in value. In the future, "one coin, one villa" would be worth it. Huahua also discussed current international technological trends and explained BlueSky Green's plans to develop technological products, paving the way for it to become a leader in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She predicted that a trade war, a technology war, and a financial war would inevitably ensue between China and the United States in the coming years. She said that if investors joined her in mining cryptocurrencies and investing in technology products, they would be able to withstand a full-scale US invasion. "She spoke nonstop for nearly two hours, yet she never once urged me to invest. I didn't feel annoyed; I actually listened," Yang Fei said. He invested over 200,000 yuan that day after their conversation. This captivating contrast is the first impression many investors have of Huahua. Investor Ye Houde, who has been in the home building materials business for decades, invested in BlueSky Green as early as the second half of 2014. He had never heard of Bitcoin before, but when he met Huahua and saw her using a marker to draw simple circles and arrows on a whiteboard while explaining Bitcoin and blockchain, he felt he understood and thought, "Following her to invest in Bitcoin is a good opportunity." He then bought into every project, investing over 10 million yuan and focusing solely on Bitcoin. Later, he even closed his shop and became a small-time leader, responsible for educating other investors in Tangshan, Hebei about Bitcoin and BlueSky Green, answering their questions. [From "Sanlian Life Weekly"] Eight years have passed since the BlueSky Green case, from 2017 to 2025. The former protagonist, Huahua, and the investment frenzy she sparked continue to cause regret. Although public information is limited, we can still glimpse the complexity and controversy of this case. Huahua, with her sharp investment acumen and unique personal charm, reportedly attracted 130,000 domestic investors, with cumulative investments exceeding 40 billion yuan. Surprisingly, among the victims were retired public security, judicial, and legal personnel, successful entrepreneurs, and other highly educated individuals. This raises the question: What charm did Huahua possess that attracted so many investors back then? Based on the available information, Huahua may have the potential to become a renowned cryptocurrency investor. As early as 2014, she grasped the inherent value of Bitcoin and blockchain technology, becoming one of the earliest Bitcoin evangelists in China. She once promised investors, "Bitcoin is the 'gold' of digital currencies, immune to inflation and with a sustained price increase. In the future, one coin could be worth a villa." This prediction now appears to have come true to some extent: by 2025, the price of Bitcoin had soared to approximately $120,000 (nearly one million RMB). If Huahua had truly purchased Bitcoin for her investors, she might have become a "good entrepreneur," leading others to prosperity, rather than currently languishing in a British prison. However, as the old saying goes, "Flowers may bloom again, but youth never returns." Huahua's ingenuity, misdirected, led to a tragic end. Despite this, Huahua's investment acumen left her with a vast fortune—61,000 Bitcoins (frozen by British police; the actual number may be higher). This asset, now valuable, has become a focal point in the case. Similar to the collapse of the renowned US digital currency exchange FTX, whose founder, SBF, was imprisoned, the Solana public blockchain he left behind has become one of the world's most active DeFi blockchains with the highest daily active users and the largest DeFi transaction volume, and the value of related crypto assets has also increased significantly. In the Blue Sky Green case, these 61,000 Bitcoins are undoubtedly a crucial asset that the victims desperately need to secure.
To this end, we urge victims to take positive action by scanning the QR code to fill in the victim information and add WeChat. Choose Mankiw LLP as your attorney. We are confident that we can help victims recover their trapped assets.
We will work with professional British law firms to continue to monitor the progress of Zhang Yadi's criminal case, conduct in-depth analysis of the possibility of recovering frozen assets, and analyze whether the frozen Bitcoin can obtain the best compensation plan for the victims based on the applicable laws of the criminal case and the evidence presented, striving to recover the losses for the victims.
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