The Public Security Bureau of Jiayu, Hubei recently issued a notice that left me completely stunned.

1.9 million USDT, which at the current exchange rate is worth over 13 million RMB, was seized from a suspect in a certain case. Now, the police have issued a public notice asking the original owner to provide legal proof to claim the assets, or else it will be handed over to the national treasury after the deadline.

Here’s the problem—how do you prove you’re the original owner?

For on-chain assets, how do you prove they’re yours? Withdrawal records from an exchange? The transaction history of a wallet address? What’s more troublesome is, if the source of the funds is unclear or connected to illicit activities, would you even dare to claim it? The real owner is probably in a terrible dilemma right now.

13 million is no small sum, but in the crypto world, this kind of “vanished asset” isn’t all that rare. Wallets lost due to missing private keys, funds from illegal activities seized by law enforcement, accounts frozen for various reasons... This is just the first time I’ve seen the police openly issue a notice seeking the owner.

This incident also serves as a wake-up call: when dealing with cryptocurrencies, your funds need to have clean origins, and you need to keep complete proof of ownership. If something happens to the USDT in your wallet, can you provide a clear transaction history and legal proof of ownership?

As for where this money will end up? I’d bet that no one will dare claim it—after all, it was seized from an extortion case, so the original owner is likely connected to the crime. Ultimately, it’ll be turned over to the national treasury and put an end to this illicit fund, which is pretty much what you’d expect.

I wonder how the real owner is feeling right now?