Millions of investments turned to zero overnight! Chinese court hears key rulings on virtual currencies and USDT...

According to the China Court Network, the Donghu People's Court of the Donghu New Technology Development Zone in Wuhan, Hubei Province recently concluded a dispute over a virtual currency investment entrustment contract. Because the virtual currency trading platform was frozen, the investor's money could not be recovered, and the court finally ruled to reject the plaintiff. Litigation claims that the investor shall bear the losses.

According to the report, in 2020, Liu began to try to invest in virtual currencies. After learning that his colleague Wang had connections to invest overseas and promised to maintain principal and interest, based on his trust in Wang, Liu invested in virtual currency from December 2020 to October 2022. During this period, a total of more than 1.84 million yuan was transferred and paid to Wang and his designated third-party account through Alipay, bank cards, cash and other methods to invest in USDT (Tether currency). During the period, Wang only received a rebate of more than 56,000. Yuan.

After a transaction, Liu found that the website for purchasing the virtual currency could not be opened. He tried many times to no avail. He could not accept the huge losses caused by investing in the virtual currency, so he took the entrustment contract dispute to the court.

Liu believed that Wang did not provide him with any materials about the overseas investment project, and the two parties did not sign any agreement, nor did they agree on the investment method, term, income and other related content. Therefore, he claimed that the entrusted investment relationship between the two parties was invalid and demanded that Wang Compensate for the loss of more than 1.78 million yuan.

Wang argued that the basic facts stated by Liu were false and that he had not helped Liu make USDT investments. The investments were all conducted by Liu himself through his personal account on the virtual currency website platform, which was an investment relationship established with the website. Rather than establishing an entrusted investment relationship with yourself. Secondly, the transfer between the two people was not the money to help Liu invest in virtual currency, but the purchase, sale, exchange or other virtual currency transactions of USDT between the two parties. The amount of transactions between the two parties was wrong. The difference in the amount in the transfer record was The amount of more than 340,000 yuan is not the more than 1.78 million yuan that Liu claimed.

After trial, the court found that between December 6, 2020 and December 17, 2021, the difference in the transfer records between the plaintiff Liu and the defendant Wang was more than 340,000 yuan. Neither party provided communication records, and no evidence existed. It was proved that the nature of the money was money that Liu entrusted Wang to invest in virtual currencies. Therefore, Liu’s request for return had no factual and legal basis and the court would not support it.

From December 18, 2021 to September 2022, Liu transferred money, instructed payment, and cash payment to Wang, totaling more than 1.05 million yuan. Based on a chat software and Wang’s statement, it was a Tether USDT transaction, which is a virtual currency. . The court held that the amount could constitute a relationship payment under the entrustment contract. According to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Speculation Risks in Virtual Currency Transactions", there are legal risks involved in participating in virtual currency investment and trading activities.

The court emphasized that if any legal person, unincorporated organization or natural person invests in virtual currencies and related derivatives that violates public order and good customs, the relevant civil legal actions will be invalid, and the resulting losses shall be borne by the person himself.

The judge mentioned that in China, investment and trading activities in virtual currencies have always been strictly regulated and even banned.

"Virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal currencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and other virtual currencies have the main characteristics of being issued by non-monetary authorities, using encryption technology and distributed accounts or similar technologies, and existing in digital form. They do not have It is legally compensable and should not and cannot be used as currency in the market. Overseas virtual currency exchanges provide services to residents in China through the Internet, which is also an illegal financial activity. "

"Currently, virtual currency trading is not a niche and rare behavior, and any losses caused by such speculation, regardless of the motivation, must be borne by oneself. Investors should fully understand the legality of the investment project before making any investment. and risks, do not blindly follow the trend or believe in the high returns promised by others to avoid causing losses to your own property.”