Gone Fishin': Irish Police Reel In Another 500 BTC From Landfill-Bound Seed Phrase 🐟

Irish authorities have moved an additional 500 BTC, valued at $30.85 million, from a wallet linked to convicted drug trafficker Clifton Collins into Coinbase, bringing total recoveries from Collins' seized holdings to 1,500 BTC worth approximately $103 million, according to on-chain tracking. Collins originally accumulated roughly 6,000 BTC between 2011 and 2012, and printed his seed phrase before stashing it inside a fishing rod. After his 2017 arrest, a landlord cleared the property and disposed of his belongings in a landfill, taking the private keys with them. Authorities began successfully accessing his dormant wallets in 2026. At peak valuation, Collins' 6,000 BTC were worth roughly $757 million. His known addresses still hold an estimated 4,500 BTC, valued at approximately $276 million, spread across more than nine wallets. Officials have not confirmed whether the same decryption method can be replicated on the remaining addresses.

The Collins transfers coincided with notable sell-side activity from another long-term BTC holder. Lookonchain reported that a wallet associated with venture capitalist Tim Draper deposited 1,000 BTC, worth $61.82 million, into Coinbase. Draper acquired 29,656 BTC through the U.S. Marshals Service auction of seized Silk Road assets in 2014, paying roughly $18.7 million, or about $632 per BTC. At its peak, that tranche was valued at $3.74 billion, before declining to roughly $1.8 billion.

The combined movement pushed Bitcoin's Exchange Supply Ratio to a three-week high of 0.134, indicating a larger share of BTC supply had been shifted onto centralized venues. Separately, exchange inflows rose while the Stochastic Momentum Index remained in negative territory; BTC rebounded to $62,000 but upside momentum stayed limited, with the Average Directional Index holding a negative reading of 23. If sell-side flows continue, $BTC could revisit the $60,000 level, though a sustained rebound would put the $65,600 resistance zone in focus.