Mankiw Q&A: What would be the crime if a hacker steals NFT digital items?

Source: Mankiw Blockchain Law

Theft of digital currency is recognized differently in practice. However, for the theft of digital collections, the author believes that it is more appropriate to be convicted and punished for the crime of theft.

First of all, there are many significant differences between digital collections and Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a homogeneous token, while digital collections are non-fungible tokens, which are unique and essentially correspond to ownership certificates of specific works and artworks, in order to achieve authentic and credible digital issuance, purchase, and It is generated by collection and use, which not only condenses blockchain technology, but also comprehensive things such as the copyright and appreciation value of the work. Its own "value" cannot be denied just because some users/platforms hype it. It should Protect it as "property" in the context of theft.

Secondly, domestic policies do not prohibit the trading of digital collections, especially since most digital collection platforms use RMB for settlement. In terms of transaction attributes, digital collections are commodities and should also be protected by law. To put it another way, even if the country bans the trading of digital collections and completely loses their circulation properties from a legal perspective, they should still be protected by law. Otherwise, would stealing drugs be innocent? On the contrary, in practice most people are still convicted and punished for the crime of theft.

Thirdly, from the perspective of victim protection, stealing digital collections should also be classified as the crime of theft. The digital collection may have been purchased by the user for a large amount of money. From the perspective of the loss after it is stolen, it is obvious that conviction and sentencing according to the crime of theft can better achieve the purpose of protecting their rights and interests (the legal interests behind it). Otherwise, they may fall into a moral trap, that is, criminals steal the digital collection. Resolutely refuse to return the stolen goods after the collection is resold, and stay in jail for several years before finally getting out to enjoy the entertainment. In this case, the mismatch between crime, responsibility and punishment can easily encourage criminals to become arrogant.

As a legal practitioner in the field of NFT, we still hope to intensify the crackdown on cybercrimes such as hackers. This circle not only needs its own compliance, but also needs a good legal environment to protect its health and order. develop.