Irish Authorities Move $38M in Bitcoin from Decade-Old Wallet Tied to Lost Fishing Rod
Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has made another significant move in its ongoing efforts to recover cryptocurrency tied to a drug dealer's lost fishing rod. On August 28, 2026, a stash of 500 BTC was transferred from a legacy wallet created on January 23, 2016, to a newer P2SH address.
The transfer, worth $38 million at current prices, is the first time these coins have moved in over a decade. When they were last active, Bitcoin's price was around $382 per coin, making them only worth $191,217.
The funds are linked to Clifton Collins, a cannabis dealer who forfeited approximately $3 million worth of BTC to Irish authorities after being busted. However, Collins claimed that his seed phrase was written on paper hidden inside the fishing rod, which he said was at a house he rented but couldn't be found by police.
CAB and Europol's European Cybercrime Centre have never officially stated whether they've found the fishing rod, only acknowledging the use of 'highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources' to recover the funds. Despite Collins' claim that another renter might have discovered the pole and informed authorities, the true nature of their recovery remains a mystery.
This latest move brings the total recovered BTC to 2,000, valued at $155 million at current prices.