British Columbia court orders production of evidence to man deceived into losing $26 million in bitcoin.

A man who claims to have lost $26 million in bitcoin in connection to a fraud scheme has been granted a production order by the B.C. Supreme Court to reveal the names of cryptocurrency account holders. Lixiao Wang filed a petition against cryptocurrency platforms Binance and Coinbase after allegedly being defrauded by an individual posing as a cryptocurrency investment expert based in Vancouver.

According to the court ruling issued last month, Wang transferred $26 million in bitcoin to an account on a website after being contacted over WhatsApp by the alleged fraudster in early 2024. Wang became suspicious when he lost access to his account and was asked to deposit additional millions for a security audit to unlock his account, prompting him to hire a private investigator.

The private investigator traced the bitcoin transactions to accounts at Coinbase and Binance and discovered that the B.C. driver’s license provided by the alleged fraudster was fake. Judge Bruce Elwood granted Wang’s petition without notifying the companies, ruling that they should disclose identifying information about the account holders as the primary source of personal information to identify the wrongdoers.

Coinbase, based in the U.S., and Binance, headquartered in the Cayman Islands, did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the court’s decision. The case highlights the risks associated with cryptocurrency transactions and the challenges of recovering funds lost in fraudulent schemes within the digital currency realm. Wang’s experience serves as a cautionary tale for individuals engaging with cryptocurrency investments and the importance of due diligence and verification when dealing with online transactions involving significant amounts of money.