Ireland Seizes Another 500 BTC, 2026 Total Hits 1,500 BTC

Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) said it has seized an additional 500 bitcoin, worth about €27 million (roughly $30.9 million), following an operation conducted with support from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. CAB said the latest action lifts its confirmed bitcoin seizures in 2026 to 1,500 BTC, which it values at around $92.4 million. In a statement posted Thursday, the agency said Europol provided operational coordination, technical expertise and decryption assistance. CAB did not identify the wallet’s owner or explain how access was obtained. CAB has not publicly tied the newly seized wallet to any specific criminal case. Separately, public blockchain tracking cited by market observers suggested that a wallet address associated with Clifton Collins moved 500 BTC on Thursday, though CAB did not confirm any link. Earlier this year, CAB reported it had accessed and seized a cryptocurrency wallet holding 500 bitcoin. Irish media connected that earlier wallet to Collins, a convicted drug dealer. The Irish Times previously reported that authorities believed Collins once held about 6,000 BTC spread across 12 wallets, and that the private keys were stored on a single sheet of A4 paper that was later reported missing—an issue that may have complicated investigators’ efforts to unlock the funds. Analysts monitoring addresses attributed to those holdings said a Collins-linked address sent 500 BTC to an unknown destination on Thursday. As of Friday, wallets still associated with Collins were estimated—based on public tracking rather than official confirmation—to hold about 4,500 BTC, valued near $277 million. Collins was arrested in 2017, according to The Guardian, after police found cannabis during a vehicle search. Prosecutors said he used proceeds from drug trafficking to buy roughly 6,000 bitcoin in late 2011 and early 2012, distributing them across multiple wallets. Reporting has described a key-management approach reliant on a physical backup concealed in fishing equipment, with the items later alleged to have been discarded or stolen. With CAB now reporting another 500 BTC seizure in 2026, market participants will be watching for further official disclosures on whether the latest action relates to the remaining Collins-associated holdings and how Europol’s technical role develops in future operations.