ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Wang reports, the People's Court of Jiahe County, Hunan Province recently made a ruling on a major dispute over a mining machine transaction. The case shows that the plaintiff, Pan Mouxiang, communicated with the defendant, Lei Moucai, via WeChat in November 2021 to purchase Bitcoin mining machines S19XP. After paying 23.678 million USDT, the two parties had a disagreement over the nature of the contract and the settlement price. The plaintiff requested the defendant to return the price difference of 6.27 million USDT and continue to deliver 149 mining machines.The court ruled to dismiss all of the plaintiff's claims based on two main reasons: first, according to the central bank and other departments' "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation," USDT and other virtual currencies do not have the status of legal tender, and related transactions are considered illegal financial activities.Secondly, based on the National Development and Reform Commission's "Notice on Rectifying Virtual Currency 'Mining' Activities," the energy consumption of mining activities is high, carbon emissions are significant, and economic contributions are low, which does not align with the national green development strategy. The court determined that the transaction contract was invalid due to violations of laws and regulations as well as public order and good customs, and the related losses would be borne by both parties.

ChainCatcher news, recently the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly released 8 typical cases of punishing illegal foreign exchange crimes.Regarding the typical cases involving the use of virtual currency as a medium for illegal foreign exchange transactions, the head of the Fourth Procuratorial Division of the Supreme People's Procuratorate pointed out that in China, virtual currency does not have the same legal status as legal tender, and related business activities are considered illegal financial activities.He stated that an increasing number of illegal foreign exchange crimes are being carried out through virtual currency transactions. The procuratorial authorities have found that using virtual currency as a trading medium to indirectly achieve the conversion of foreign exchange and RMB is an important link in the chain of illegal foreign exchange transactions and should be punished according to law. Guiding evidence collection and examination of criminal facts related to virtual currency transactions requires familiarity with the technical characteristics of virtual currency trading to improve the quality and efficiency of case handling.