A Bitcoin wallet belonging to Irish convicted drug dealer Clifton Collins suddenly reactivated after over 10 years and sent a whopping $41.52 million worth of BTC to Coinbase Prime
As reported by blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, 500 BTC were sent to Coinbase Prime's institutional trading platform
These BTC were part of a massive 6,000 BTC fortune that Collins amassed over a decade ago but allegedly lost the private keys for
Yet, it is not the first time that the supposedly inaccessible Bitcoin haul has seen funds being moved
Multiple parts of the fortune have already been seized in 2026 by Irish authorities
It has turned one of the most infamous lost-key stories in crypto into a phenomenal asset recovery situation
Collins, a former beekeeper from Dublin, built up a fortune of around 6,000 BTC in late 2011 and early 2012 through his cannabis farming activities
The price of BTC was still just a few dollars back then. As the price of BTC kept going up, the former beekeeper started to fear that his Bitcoin stash could be hacked
To secure his now ever-growing Bitcoin fortune, Collins split the Bitcoin across 12 wallets. The wallets held 500 BTC each
Then, he took the private keys and printed them on an A4 piece of paper. He hid it inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case. The case was stashed inside a rented property in County Galway
In 2017, Collins was arrested after Irish police found cannabis in his car. Five years in prison followed
During Collins' prison stint, the rented property was burgled and then cleaned out. All his belongings were taken to the local dump
The fishing rod case with the supposed keys to his Bitcoin treasure vanished
In March, the story took an interesting turn as Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) announced that it had managed to access a previously inaccessible 500 BTC wallet. This was done with the help of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre
Later in May, an additional 500 BTC were seized on top of the March 2026 seizure. In July, another 500 BTC were seized as well
Then, on Aug. 28, another 500 BTC, worth around $39.56 million, were sent to Coinbase Prime
Now, the recent Oct. 20 move is the fifth time that a 500 BTC tranche has been sent out of Collins-linked wallets this year
