An Aug. 23 announcement from the Chinese government confirmed the extradition of the Thai crypto pyramid scam mastermind.

Chinese Ministry of Public Security recognized Zhang as the culprit, who was extradited Aug. 20. Zhang allegedly ran a $14 billion crypto pyramid.

Zhang reportedly founded his ‘MBI Group’ in 2012, promising large profits. Joining the program cost victims 700 Yuan ($98) to 245,000 Yuan ($34,300) in cryptocurrency.

The organization has over 10 million members and 100 billion Yuan, worth $14 billion.

A Chinese government official claimed Zhang's extradition showed the administration's commitment to citizen rights.

The extradition follows a nearly four-year Chinese police probe that began in November 2020. Zhang was arrested in Thailand in July 2022 after Interpol's China Bureau filed a red alert in March 2021.

Chinese and Thai forces collaborated on Zhang's capture and extradition under the "Fox Hunting Operation." Zhang became the first criminal suspect extradited under the China-Thailand pact since 1999 in May after a Thai court accepted his extradition.

China continues to tighten down on the digital asset business with this extradition.

The nation has shunned the business for years. Government rules limit crypto trading and ban financial institutions from interacting with digital assets.

Despite these severe prohibitions, some Chinese people penetrate the business. Chainalysis said that the nation got $75 billion in crypto between July 2022 and June 2023.

Several events, like Hong Kong's introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, have the crypto world wondering whether China is warming up to the sector.