Virtual currency has no legal compensation

Some virtual currencies are illegal in China. Chinese laws prohibit virtual currencies. The only legal currency in China is RMB. Since the people's Republic of China issued RMB, it has lasted 71 years. With the development of economic construction and the needs of people's life, it has graally improved and improved. So far, it has issued five sets of RMB, forming a multi variety and multi series monetary system of paper money and metal money, ordinary commemorative money and precious metal commemorative money

except for 1,2,5 fen coins, the first, second and third sets of RMB have been withdrawn from circulation, and the fourth set of RMB has been suspended from circulation since May 1, 2018 (except 1 jiao, 5 jiao notes and 5 jiao, 1 yuan coins). The current circulation of RMB is mainly the fifth set of RMB issued in 1999

the people's Bank of China is scheled to issue the fifth set of RMB 50 yuan, 20 yuan, 10 yuan, 1 yuan banknotes and 1 yuan, 5 jiao, 1 jiao coins of the 2019 edition from August 30, 2019. The fifth set of RMB inherits the traditional experience of China's printing technology and draws lessons from the advanced technology of foreign banknote design, which has greatly improved its anti-counterfeiting performance and currency processing modernization

Chairman Mao Zedong's head portrait in the early days of the founding of the people's Republic of China is used on the front of each denomination currency, the famous Chinese flower pattern is used on the bottom, and the main scenery pattern on the back fully shows China's long history and magnificent mountains and rivers, and carries forward China's great national culture by selecting representative patterns with national characteristics

According to the news on February 10, 2018, on September 4, 2017, seven ministries and commissions of the people's Republic of China issued the notice on preventing the financing risk of token issuance, which regulates the issuance of tokens. In the notice, the nature of all kinds of tokens and "virtual currency" is clearly defined: it is not issued by the monetary authority, and it has no monetary attributes such as legal compensation and mandatory, It does not have the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be used as currency in the market. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that all kinds of "virtual currency" still have a certain property value and are part of the property of the holder. So, how to identify the nature of the theft of such tokens

stealing bitcoin

recently, a news report said that Haidian police in Beijing cracked a case of destroying computer information system. The suspect Zhong used his administrator's authority to modify the company's computer applications and steal 100 bitcoins. Before he could sell the stolen money, Zhong was arrested by the police. At present, Zhong was detained for the crime of destroying computer information system

it can be seen from the report that the police detained the perpetrator for stealing bitcoin on suspicion of damaging the computer information system. The crime of destroying the computer information system stipulated in Article 286 of the criminal law of our country refers to the act of deleting, modifying, adding or interfering with the functions of the computer information system in violation of the provisions of the state, resulting in the abnormal operation of the computer information system and serious consequences, or deleting, modifying or interfering with the data and application programs stored, processed or transmitted in the computer information system Modifying or adding operations with serious consequences, or deliberately making or spreading destructive programs such as computer viruses, which affect the normal operation of the computer system with serious consequences

first of all, in the notice on the prevention of bitcoin risk issued in 2013, it is mentioned that bitcoin is not a real currency because it is not issued by the monetary authority and does not have such monetary attributes as legal compensation and compulsion. Bitcoin has four main characteristics: no centralized issuers, limited amount, no geographical restrictions and anonymity. Because it belongs to a specific virtual commodity in nature The notice also clearly mentioned that bitcoin does not have the same legal status as currency and should not be used as currency in the market. However, as a virtual commodity, the property value behind bitcoin cannot be ignored

finally, from the relevant cases, we can also see the recognition of the property attribute of virtual currency such as bitcoin in China's judicial practice. In April and may 2013, Liu premeditated to set up a bitcoin trading platform, so he recruited Jin and Huang (both sentenced) to jointly set up a "bitcoin" trading platform. During this period, Liu, Huang, Jin, Jin and the defendant he, in addition to other acts of directly stealing customers' funds, also frequently cashed RMB by selling customers' bitcoins, and transferred 120 bitcoins from the website. Finally, the court convicted and punished the defendant for fraud, and the bitcoin transferred by the defendant was also included in the property loss of the victim. Therefore, from the judicial cases, we can also get the recognition of the property attributes of virtual currency such as bitcoin

based on the above reasons, the author thinks that it may be unreasonable to regulate the theft of virtual currency only as the crime of damaging computer information system. We should face up to the hidden property value and consider the application of the crime of infringing property in China's criminal law. Only in this way can we effectively protect the legitimate rights and property of digital currency holders in China

There are two reasons for the prohibition of virtual currency trading by the state:

1. The price fluctuates violently and the consumer protection is lacking:

virtual currency is the proct of network, and the digital information flowing in the network is beyond everyone's control. The code of cyberspace is the basis of the operation of virtual currency, investors can only operate through the front-end interface, seemingly "control" the virtual currency. The operator of the virtual currency service organization may become the actual controller of the virtual currency through the control code

bitcoin and other so-called "virtual currencies" lack a clear value basis, the market is full of speculative atmosphere, the price fluctuates violently, and investors blindly follow suit, which is easy to cause capital losses

2. Evade supervision and become the "accomplice" of criminal activities:

bitcoin is popular as a payment tool in the so-called "dark web" world“ The "dark net" is full of all kinds of serious criminal activities. One of the original intentions of the invention of bitcoin is to evade regulation. It has the characteristics of anonymity and convenient cross-border flow, and has become the preferred tool of "underground economy"

the existence of bitcoin and exchanges and other instrial chains has constructed a illegal financial market for asset transfer and financing in addition to legal currency, increased the difficulty of regulatory authorities in managing financial security and stability, and promoted regulatory arbitrage and financial crimes. The risks and social security risks it brings to the financial market are far higher than its innovative value

extended information

virtual currency transactions are not protected by law:

according to the notice on preventing bitcoin risks issued by the people's Bank of China and other departments on December 3, 2013 and the announcement on preventing financing risks of token issuance issued by seven ministries and commissions including the people's Bank of China on September 4, 2017, virtual currency is not issued by monetary authorities, It is not a real currency because it does not have the monetary attributes of legal compensation and compulsion

in terms of nature, virtual currency should be a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency, and can not and should not be used as currency in the market. Although citizens' investment and trading in other virtual currencies are personal freedom, they can not be protected by law

No. Virtual currency with good operation and investment will survive for a long time and will not go bankrupt in a few months, such as bitcoin and internet currency of Internet companies