TLDR
- Criminal Assets Bureau and Europol gained access to a Bitcoin wallet inactive for approximately 10 years
- Authorities transferred 500 BTC valued at approximately $35 million to Coinbase on March 24, 2026
- The cryptocurrency belonged to Clifton Collins, a convicted cannabis cultivator who concealed private keys inside a fishing rod case
- Authorities believed the keys were permanently lost after Collins’ possessions were discarded in a landfill following his 2017 detention
- Law enforcement officials expect to apply the same technique to access the remaining 11 wallets containing over €330 million
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) of Ireland, working alongside Europol, has achieved a significant breakthrough by gaining access to a Bitcoin wallet that remained untouched for nearly ten years. The contents, consisting of 500 BTC valued at approximately $35 million, were transferred on-chain on March 24 before being deposited into Coinbase.
The cryptocurrency belonged to Clifton Collins, a Dublin resident who received a criminal conviction for operating cannabis cultivation facilities spanning several Irish counties over more than a decade. Before his involvement in drug production, Collins maintained employment as both a security guard and a beekeeper.
Collins acquired 6,000 Bitcoin during 2011 and 2012, purchasing the cryptocurrency when its value remained in the single-digit dollar range. His cannabis sales provided the capital for these acquisitions.
He distributed the 6,000 BTC evenly among 12 separate wallets, allocating 500 BTC to each. Collins printed the corresponding private keys onto a single piece of paper, which he then concealed within a fishing rod case at his Galway rental residence.
Authorities apprehended Collins in 2017 after discovering cannabis during a standard traffic inspection. Following his arrest, the property owner emptied the residence and disposed of Collins’ possessions at a local landfill.
The fishing rod case — containing the sole copy of the private keys — appeared to have been destroyed in the disposal process. Collins later indicated that a burglary at the residence might have also played a role in the keys’ disappearance.
The Irish High Court issued an order in 2020 mandating the confiscation of the Bitcoin. The 6,000 BTC held a value of roughly €53 million at that time. Current valuations place the total at approximately €360 million.
Despite obtaining the court authorization, CAB lacked the means to retrieve the funds without possession of the private keys. Law enforcement and Collins alike concluded the Bitcoin had become permanently inaccessible.
How Investigators Got In
CAB and Europol have chosen to keep the specific methodology confidential. Europol released a statement indicating they provided “highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources.”
One hypothesis suggests Collins may have stored his keys within an encrypted file secured by an inadequate password, which investigators potentially compromised through brute force methods.
An alternative explanation involves the possibility that Collins utilized a compromised tool for generating all 12 key pairs. A flawed random number generator could have produced predictable keys, enabling investigators to recreate them.
Law enforcement sources indicate confidence that the identical methodology will prove effective for the remaining 11 wallets.
What Remains Locked
Collins maintains control over 5,500 Bitcoin, currently valued at roughly $389 million based on Arkham data.
Should CAB successfully unlock all remaining wallets through the same approach, the complete 6,000 BTC recovery would represent the largest single asset seizure in the bureau’s operational history.
The 500 BTC transferred on March 24 represents the first verified access to any of Collins’ wallets since his apprehension nine years ago.
