Bitcoin is now a ‘legally protected asset’ in China

Blockchain is vital to China's growth, its leader claims

A Chinese court has officially declared Bitcoin a “legally protected asset” in a landmark case in Beijing.

The news was brought to light by founding partner of Primitive Ventures Dovey Wan, who sourced details of a court case from the Beijing News.

The topic of the case dates back to 2013, when someone purchased 2.6 Bitcoin from a company that eventually went out of business without delivering the Bitcoin to the buyer.

Wan wrote: “Bitcoin holds the attributes as property – valuable, scarce, and disposable. We should recognise it as a virtual property. According to ‘The General Civil Law’, virtual property is legally protected by laws of the People’s Republic of China.”

While the case confirms that “holding Bitcoin as private property” is legal, it does not mean that trading in China is legal.

China famously banned Bitcoin and ICOs during the height of the bull run in 2017. The decision sent the price of Bitcoin temporarily to the downside, with many questioning whether other nations would follow.

Wan also stated that yesterday’s price rally could be attributed to China’s reclassification of Bitcoin rather than the Libra testimony that everyone was focused on.

“I was browsing Weibo and WeChat on sentiment around the sharp Bitcoin rally. Instead of Libra, folks attributed the rally to the case above, then I realised it’s indeed a big milestone.

“Today was the first property dispute case on Bitcoin finalised in a local Chinese court. The court confirmed the ‘virtual property’ attribute of Bitcoin and recognised it as a virtual property with value,” she added.

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Oliver Knight

Londoner ‘Ollie’ graduated from Birmingham City University with a journalism degree in 2016. He combines his writing with his love of crypto and blockchain here at Coin Rivet, saying “It disrupts well-established institutions (banks) while giving an avenue to the less fortunate to achieve financial freedom.” Like all true Londoners, his pet hate is… “People standing on the left-hand side of the escalators on the Tube!”.