Stash of Lost Bitcoin Linked to Irish Drug Dealer Moves to Coinbase
A wallet once thought to be permanently locked has transferred 500 BTC, worth approximately $39.56 million, to the institutional platform Coinbase Prime. The movement follows years of uncertainty regarding the assets, which were famously hidden inside a fishing rod case by convicted Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins.
The transfer was flagged by blockchain tracker Lookonchain on August 28. While the movement suggests the coins are no longer inaccessible, it remains unclear whether the assets were sold or simply moved into institutional custody. Coinbase Prime serves as a primary hub for government agencies and large-scale investors, meaning a deposit does not necessarily indicate a liquidation event.
Clifton Collins originally amassed roughly 6,000 BTC between 2011 and 2012 using proceeds from cannabis sales. He split the fortune into 12 wallets of 500 BTC each, printing the private keys on paper and hiding them in a rental property in County Galway. After his 2017 arrest, the fishing equipment containing the keys was reportedly discarded at a waste facility, leaving the coins trapped on the blockchain.
Irish authorities, working alongside Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, began successfully decrypting these wallets in 2026. By July, officials had recovered 1,500 BTC through a series of complex technical operations. The latest 500 BTC transfer matches the specific sizing of the original wallet structure, though neither the Criminal Assets Bureau nor An Garda Síochána has issued a statement confirming this as a new recovery or a further step in the disposal of previously seized assets.
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