In Ireland, there continues to be remarkable activity in the wallets of Clifton Collins, who bought Bitcoin (BTC) years ago with proceeds from illegal drug trafficking. Most recently, the transfer of 500 BTC, worth approximately $41.5 million, to Coinbase Prime has brought his long-thought-out Bitcoin fortune back into the spotlight.
According to data shared by the on-chain data analytics platform Lookonchain, 500 BTC were transferred from a Bitcoin wallet linked to Collins to Coinbase Prime. The transaction, which took place today, is said to be worth approximately $41.5 million.
Irish authorities may have regained access to the wallet as part of their work with the European Police Agency (Europol). However, there is no official confirmation yet that the last transfer was made directly by the authorities.
Bitcoins He Bought for $30,000 Are Worth Hundreds of Millions of Dollars
Clifton Collins’ story dates back to 2011 and 2012. Using income from illegal drug trafficking, Collins began buying Bitcoin, accumulating a total of 6,000 BTC at approximately $5 each. The total cost of these Bitcoins is estimated to be around $30,000.
In 2016, Collins distributed 6,000 BTC across 12 different wallets to secure his assets. He printed the private keys for each wallet on A4 paper and hid them in a fishing tackle box in the house he was renting.
However, things changed in 2017 when he was arrested for illegal drug trafficking and sentenced to five years in prison. Following Collins’ imprisonment, it was reported that a bag containing his private keys went missing during a cleanout of his rented apartment.
In 2020, an Irish court ordered the confiscation of 6,000 BTC belonging to Collins as proceeds of crime. However, because the private keys could not be accessed, assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars could not be transferred.
Access to Wallets to Begin in 2026
The Irish Criminal Proceeds Bureau (CAB), with technical support from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, managed to access one of the wallets believed to belong to Collins in March 2026 and seize 500 BTC.
In operations conducted in May and July, an additional 1,000 BTC were recovered. In August, another 500 BTC moved from wallets linked to Collins.
With the latest transfer of 500 BTC, the total amount of Bitcoin moving from this group of wallets in 2026 has reached 2,500 BTC, worth approximately $207.5 million at current prices.
Therefore, approximately 3,500 BTC of the initial 6,000 BTC may still be in the relevant wallets. This amount is currently worth approximately $290 million.
On the other hand, it has not yet been revealed exactly how authorities gained access to the missing private keys. Europol had previously announced that it provided advanced technical expertise and decryption resources in the operations.
*This is not investment advice.
