A Bitcoin wallet associated with the stash once linked to convicted Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins moved 500 BTC to Coinbase Prime on Aug. 28, according to blockchain tracker Lookonchain. At the time of the transfer, the coins were valued at about $39.56 million.
The movement drew attention because the wallet group had previously been tied to roughly 6,000 BTC that were long believed to be out of reach after the private keys were reportedly lost. A deposit to Coinbase Prime, however, does not by itself show that the Bitcoin was sold.
Lookonchain flags fresh activity
In an Aug. 28 post on X, Lookonchain said Bitcoin connected to Collins was "moving again" and identified a transfer of 500 BTC into Coinbase Prime. Based on the valuation cited in the report, each Bitcoin was worth roughly $79,120 at the time.
The tracker linked the transfer to a cluster of wallets that once held about 6,000 BTC. Those holdings became widely known because they were reportedly inaccessible after the disappearance of the private keys needed to move them.
Questions remain over who controlled the transfer
The blockchain record shows coins moving between labeled addresses, but that does not settle who authorized the transaction. Lookonchain did not present evidence that Collins personally controlled the sending wallet or directed the transfer.
That distinction matters because Irish authorities had already accessed several wallets from the same group. As a result, the latest movement may have involved assets already under official control rather than funds newly accessed by Collins or someone acting for him.
Recovered coins add context to the wallet group
The source article said Irish authorities had recovered 1,500 BTC from the Collins-linked wallet group by July. That earlier recovery indicates at least part of the broader stash was no longer considered permanently inaccessible.
The newly moved 500 BTC came from the same general pool of wallets once associated with the larger 6,000 BTC holding, adding another visible transaction to a set of addresses that had been treated for years as effectively stranded.
What a Coinbase Prime deposit does and does not show
Coinbase Prime provides custody and trading services for institutions, companies, and government agencies. Sending Bitcoin there can precede a sale, but it can also reflect custody arrangements or other asset-management steps.
For that reason, the transfer alone is not proof that the 500 BTC was liquidated. Based on the information available in the source report, the confirmed facts are limited to the on-chain movement into Coinbase Prime and the wallet group’s reported link to the Collins stash.
Source: crypto.news