{"id":74883,"date":"2026-07-03T05:59:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/irelands-cab-cracks-third-bitcoin-wallet-recovers-31-million-from-cannabis-grower\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T05:59:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:59:50","slug":"irelands-cab-cracks-third-bitcoin-wallet-recovers-31-million-from-cannabis-grower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/irelands-cab-cracks-third-bitcoin-wallet-recovers-31-million-from-cannabis-grower\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland&#8217;s CAB Cracks Third Bitcoin Wallet, Recovers $31 Million From Cannabis Grower"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Ireland\u2019s CAB recovered 500 more BTC on July 2, 2026, pushing its 2026 total to 1,500 BTC.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Europol supplied technical support that let CAB crack a third of Clifton Collins\u2019 12 wallets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">About 4,500 BTC, worth roughly $275 million, remains locked in nine unaccessed wallets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The bureau, working with Europol\u2019s European Cybercrime Centre, has now <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/criminalassets\/status\/2072702649703473376?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accessed<\/a> three of 12 wallets tied to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/irish-cab-cracks-500-btc-wallet-first-breakthrough-in-378-million-bitcoin-seizure\/\">Clifton Collins<\/a>, a Dublin man convicted in 2017 for running an indoor cannabis operation across three counties. Each wallet held roughly 500 <span>BTC<\/span>. <span>Bitcoin.com<\/span> News reported on the very first CAB breakthrough and further noted that the funds were sent to Coinbase.<\/p>\n<h2>CAB Cracks a Third Wallet<\/h2>\n<p>The latest breach happened around July 2, with <span>bitcoin<\/span> trading near $61,749. That put the newest tranche at about $30.9 million. Combined with recoveries in March and May, also roughly 500 <span>BTC<\/span> each, the running total from the case now sits at 1,500 <span>BTC<\/span>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_828012\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-828012\" style=\"width:1414px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-828012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CAB reported the news on its social media channels on Thursday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>CAB has not disclosed the technical method behind the wallet access, standard practice during an active case. Officials credit Europol with hosting meetings in The Hague and supplying the decryption resources that made the breach possible.<\/p>\n<h2>A Beekeeper Turned Grower<\/h2>\n<p>According to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/news\/crime-and-law\/chance-encounter-with-gardai-unmasked-bitcoin-millionaire-drug-dealer-1.4180140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-depth report<\/a> from the Irish Times published in 2020, Collins worked as a security guard and later as a beekeeper before shifting to cannabis cultivation full-time around 2005. He rented grow sites in Cornamona, Kells, and Drumlish, harvesting roughly every 16 weeks and selling to dealers in Dublin.<\/p>\n<p>A Garda patrol spotted his Lexus parked in the Wicklow Mountains at 2:30 a.m. on February 7, 2017. A search turned up cannabis worth about \u20ac2,000. That stop led investigators to his Galway property, where they found more than 500 plants worth roughly \u20ac406,000.<\/p>\n<h2>A Fishing Rod Case Held the Keys<\/h2>\n<p>It was reported that Collins bought about 6,000 <span>BTC<\/span> in late 2011 and early 2012, when <span>bitcoin<\/span> traded for a few dollars a coin. He split the holdings across 12 wallets and printed the <span>private keys<\/span> on paper, which he hid inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case at his rental property.<\/p>\n<p>After his arrest, the landlord cleared the property and sent the contents to a landfill. The fishing rod case went with them. Collins told CAB investigators he lost access to the bulk of his <span>bitcoin<\/span>, and for years, authorities treated most of the stash as unrecoverable.<\/p>\n<p>A High Court order around 2019 confirmed the holdings as proceeds of crime and directed their confiscation, even though CAB could not yet move the coins. Collins had already surrendered smaller amounts of <span>bitcoin<\/span> with recoverable keys, along with other assets, including a gyroplane, a fishing boat, and a camper van, netting the state about \u20ac1.2 million years before the larger wallets became relevant.<\/p>\n<p>During interviews with CAB, Collins reportedly attributed his cannabis operation to what he called \u201cstupidity\u201d and \u201caddiction.\u201d He served part of a five-year sentence under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with a portion of the term suspended.<\/p>\n<h2>Wallets Sat Dormant for Nearly a Decade<\/h2>\n<p>Onchain records show no activity from the wallets between Collins\u2019 2017 arrest and the first recovery in March 2026. That gap matters. It supports the account that CAB genuinely lacked access rather than sitting on keys it chose not to use, and it explains why the wallets attracted attention from <span>blockchain<\/span> researchers well before the state made any breach public.<\/p>\n<p>CAB officials have described the years of holding a confiscation order on an asset they could not touch as its own kind of frustration. <span>Bitcoin<\/span>\u2019s price kept climbing while the wallets stayed sealed, so the value tied up in the case grew even as the coin count stayed fixed.<\/p>\n<h2>4,500 Bitcoin Remain Locked<\/h2>\n<p>Nine of the <a href=\"https:\/\/arkm.com\/explorer\/entity\/clifton-collins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14 wallets<\/a>, holding an estimated 4,500 <span>BTC<\/span>, remain outside CAB\u2019s reach. At current prices, that stash is worth more than $275 million. The bureau still controls the wallets under the existing confiscation order and continues working to access them.<\/p>\n<p>Onchain analytics firm <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/arkham-intelligence-ranks-polymarket-traders-by-skill-top-forecaster-hits-66-1-win-rate\/\">Arkham Intelligence<\/a> has tracked the cluster under labels referencing Collins and his lost keys, flagging each new movement as it happens. Recovered coins have moved to institutional custody for management ahead of eventual <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/understanding-liquidation-on-perp-dex\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">liquidation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Before this case, CAB had sold roughly \u20ac6.5 million worth of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cryptocurrency<\/a> across all prior cases over a decade. The Collins recoveries already dwarf that figure, and a full recovery of the original 6,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/price\/bitcoin\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BTC<\/a> would rank among the largest <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a> forfeitures by any law enforcement agency in <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/ireland-targets-crypto-assets-in-new-strategy-to-disrupt-illicit-cash-flows\/\">Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For traders watching from the sidelines, the case is a reminder that coins written off as permanently lost can still surface years later, particularly when a government agency has the wallet under legal control and the resources to keep trying.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/irelands-cab-cracks-third-bitcoin-wallet-recovers-31-million-from-cannabis-grower\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Ireland\u2019s CAB recovered 500 more BTC on July 2, 2026, pushing its 2026 total to 1,500 BTC. Europol supplied technical support that let CAB crack a third of Clifton Collins\u2019 12 wallets. About 4,500 BTC, worth roughly $275 million, remains locked in nine unaccessed wallets. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":74884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}