According to Odaily, a highly publicized dispute over a commissioned contract involving the purchase of virtual currency by members of a pyramid scheme organization has recently been resolved by the People's Court of Liangjiang New Area (Free Trade Zone) in Chongqing. The plaintiff, identified as Qin, had commissioned the defendant, Zhou, to register as a member on the pyramid scheme's online platform and purchase virtual currency, investing a total of 223,500 yuan. However, the platform abruptly shut down, preventing any further transactions.
The court ruled that the commissioned contract violated mandatory provisions of national laws and administrative regulations, and should therefore be deemed invalid. Based on the degree of fault of both parties, the court ordered Zhou to return 106,700 yuan to Qin. After the first-instance judgment, Zhou appealed the decision. However, the Chongqing First Intermediate People's Court upheld the original judgment in the second-instance ruling, rejecting the appeal. The judgment is now in effect and has been automatically enforced.