UK-based crypto business shut down following worldwide complaints
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-10)

The Insolvency Service investigated complaints made to Action Fraud from people in Estonia, Mauritania, Iran, New Zealand, Poland and Romania.

BTCMining Limited operated a cryptoasset mining business, but customers say they took payments for services they did not receive.

Insolvency Service investigation was the result of complaints made to Action Fraud from people as far away as New Zealand.

The company was subject to a winding up hearing at the High Court in Manchester on 29 April 2025.

A cryptoasset business registered in the UK has been shut down after people from multiple countries said they paid for crypto mining services but did not receive the promised financial returns and were unable to withdraw their assets.

BTCMining Limited claimed to operate a cryptoasset mining business, where customers would pay the company to mine crypto and receive any resulting income.

However, Action Fraud received complaints from people in Estonia, Mauritania, Iran, New Zealand, Poland and Romania claiming they did not receive the ‘mining’ service or their assets and had been subject to further payment demands.

The investigation also found that the company did not have a legitimate registered address anywhere in the UK.

BTCMining Limited was shut down following a hearing at the High Court in Manchester on 29 April 2025.

Insolvency Service Chief Investigator, David Usher said:

The fact that BTCMining Limited was attracting customers globally makes our intervention particularly important.

We acted on the complaints before their reach could have affected countless more individuals.

It’s vital that the public, both here in the UK and abroad, are protected from companies acting in this way.

Investigators were unable to reach BTCMining Limited using known email addresses and telephone numbers, and websites linked to the company were either inactive or gave no new contact details.

BTCMining Limited’s director, Stibich Martins Yhaicha Luzia, was the sole director of the company since its incorporation in January 2024, and payment for the company’s registration came from an account in China.

The 25-year-old, who is believed to be from Germany, could not be contacted by the Insolvency Service and did not cooperate with the investigation.

His contact address recorded at Companies House was also a residential address, whose occupiers had no knowledge of BTCMining Limited and had not given their permission to use it.

A review of the six complaints lodged with Action Fraud indicated that customers collectively lost more than £15,000 although investigators fear the actual amount could be much higher.

BTCMining Limited (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15415402) is not linked to any other company with a similar name or trading style.

All enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to the Official Receiver of the Public Interest Unit: 16th Floor, 1 Westfield Avenue, Stratford, London, E20 1HZ. Email:xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

Further information

BTCMINING LIMITED (company number 15415402) (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15415402)

The Insolvency Service can investigate complaints about corporate abuse by live companies. This may include serious misconduct, fraud, scams or dishonest practice in the way the company operates. Further information on our live investigations can be found here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-insolvency-service-company-investigations-what-we-do/company-investigations-what-we-do)

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available here. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service)