A high court in Shandong province has declined to protect a plaintiff’s claim of $10,000 that was lost to crypto scam, stating that crypto is not protected by the Chinese law hence the denial.
The cryptocurrency community in China has been dealt yet another setback, with news of a new high court judgement in Shandong province that has drawn out the ramifications of crypto’s lack of legal status in the country.
The case in question, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), was an appeal against a verdict issued by an intermediate court in Jinan in January.
In 2017, the plaintiff in the case lost 70,000 yuan (approximately $10,750) by investing in nameless crypto tokens that were supposedly promoted by friends.
The associated accounts were closed after the People’s Bank of China stepped up its anti-crypto measures in 2018, resulting in the loss of the tokens.
The plaintiff’s lawsuit, which was based on charges of fraud, was dismissed by Shandong’s top court this weekend, with the court maintaining that “investing or trading cryptocurrency isn’t protected by law.”
As previously noted, Shandong’s decision is consistent with that of other Chinese provincial courts, such as when a Fujian court dismissed a Bitcoin-related complaint last year on the basis that a digital commodity cannot be protected under Chinese law.
However, a judgement by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in the same year stated differently, declaring that a couple should be paid for the loss of their Bitcoin.
This was similar to a 2019 judgement by the Hangzhou Internet Court, which was the second Chinese court to declare Bitcoin (BTC) to be virtual property at the time.
The SCMP’s allegation that this weekend’s verdict could set a bad precedent for crypto users in China comes as Beijing’s anti-crypto attitude hardens, especially as spring 2021 approaches.
