Chinese Court Recognises Bitcoin as a Digital Asset

In the court held that Bitcoin is a digital asset, it was stated that it should be protected by law. On 6 May, according to the news made by Baidu, an important and major step was taken in defining Bitcoin in terms of laws. The court stated that Bitcoin is a digital asset and should be protected by law.

Everything Started with a Robbery

In the news, Shanghai married couple Pete and Xiaoli Wang were robbed by four people in 2018. During the robbery, they forced the couple to transfer the cryptocurrencies in their hands to their own accounts. The following statements were made in the news published on the subject:

‘Four attackers forced the couple to transfer 18.88 BTC and 6,466 Sky coins to their own accounts.’

At the first court hearing, the attackers stated that they wanted to return Pete and Xiaoli Wang's Bitcoin and Skycoins. The court sentenced the robbers to six months and ten and a half days in prison.  The court also ordered the guilty parties to return the amount in local currency at the BTC and Skycoin rates on 12 June 2018.

The attackers appealed the decision, saying:

‘Current Chinese law does not recognise the asset properties of Bitcoin and Skycoin. Bitcoin and Skycoin are not considered assets or property in the legal sense. Therefore, Pete and Wang Xiaoli have no right to demand the return of their assets.’

The couple, who struggled in court for two years, eventually gave up on getting their Skycoins back. But they continued to insist that the court ordered the return of their Bitcoins. The court eventually ordered the four robbers to return 18.88 BTC.

Craig Wright claimed that Bitcoin will be covered by the law

Craig Wright, who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, shared his views on his personal blog account that the future is not good for Lightning Network and Bitcoin miners. Although Bitcoin is preferred because it does not need permission and does not need authority, according to Wright, these are just illusions. Wright argues that in Bitcoin transactions, if CDD (customer due diligence) and KYC (know your customer) requirements are not met, the money involved in the transaction is stolen.