Virtual currency speculation and sentencing

1. As of March 9, 2018, virtual currency transactions are not protected by law.

2. 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 the control of all people. 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<
2. Avoiding supervision and becoming the "accomplice" of criminal activities
virtual currency transaction is not protected by law:
virtual currency transaction is not illegal, and it is not illegal to invest in virtual currency. But how to get involved in virtual currency transactions is illegal and illegal. It may be suspected of illegal fund-raising.

3.

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

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of "virtual token" holders, the author intends to discuss such issues through a relevant news report and relevant cases

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

In the author's opinion, this crime is one of the crimes of impairing social management order in Chapter 6 of the criminal law, that is, the legal interest protected by this crime is actually the public order of our society, not the property interests of the digital currency holders, which in fact denies the property value of digital currency, It is only protected as a data or system function in a computer system. The author thinks that there is some irrationality in this way

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

Secondly, Article 127 of the general provisions of the civil law, which came into effect on October 1 last year, stipulates that if the law has provisions on the protection of data and network virtual property, such provisions shall prevail. Although only the protection of the network virtual property has made the principle provisions, but it can not be denied that this shows our country's attitude towards the protection of the network virtual property. Although there is no special law for the protection of data and network virtual property in China, from the perspective of the general provisions of civil law, it is predicted that there will be relevant legislation in the future

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

4.

It is illegal to buy and sell digital currency in China

according to the announcement on preventing the financing risk of token issuance jointly issued by the central bank and other seven ministries and commissions, the announcement points out that any so-called token financing trading platform shall not engage in the exchange business between legal currency and token and "virtual currency", and shall not buy or sell tokens or "virtual currency" as the central counterparties, It is not allowed to provide pricing, information intermediary and other services for token or "virtual currency"

the announcement points out that token issuance financing refers to the so-called "virtual currency" raised from investors through illegal sale and circulation of tokens. In essence, it is an unauthorized illegal public financing behavior, suspected of illegal sale of token tickets, illegal issuance of securities, illegal fund-raising, financial fraud, pyramid schemes and other illegal and criminal activities

extended information:

the central bank said that the so-called "digital currency" in the market is not legal digital currency:

the central bank's monetary Bureau issued a "risk warning on issuing or promoting digital currency in the name of the people's Bank of China" on its official website, saying that recently, indivial enterprises falsely use the name of the central bank, The relevant digital procts are labeled as "authorized issuance by the people's Bank of China", or the central bank's digital currency promotion team is falsely claimed, in an attempt to deceive the public and take the opportunity to make huge profits

the central bank said that the central bank has not issued legal digital currency, nor authorized any institutions and enterprises to issue legal digital currency, and there is no promotion team. At present, the so-called "digital currency" in the market is not legal digital currency. The central bank also suggested that the so-called "digital currency" launched by some institutions and enterprises and the so-called promotion of the central bank's issuance of digital currency may involve pyramid selling and fraud

in fact, virtual currencies such as bitcoin and lightcoin are representatives of the so-called digital currency. The central bank said in 2016 that it was studying China's legal digital currency. Yao Qian, director of the digital currency Research Institute of the people's Bank of China, previously told the media that the prototype scheme for the central bank to issue legal digital currency has completed two rounds of revision, and is expected to be tested in relatively closed application scenarios such as the bill market in the future, but there is no clear timetable for its launch

5. Generally, the crime of fraud is a solid punishment. Although you have returned the money you defrauded and the other party has written a letter of understanding, it does great harm to the society and can be reced in the term of imprisonment.

6. If the online virtual game currency swindles 4000 yuan, it is suspected of fraud and shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years< According to the interpretation of the Supreme People's court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues concerning the specific application of law in handling criminal cases of fraud, which came into effect on April 8, 2011, those who defraud public or private property with a value of 3000 yuan to 10000 yuan or more, 30000 yuan to 100000 yuan or more, and 500000 yuan or more will be punished, It should be respectively identified as "large amount" and "huge amount" and "especially huge amount" stipulated in Article 266 of the criminal law< Article 266 of the criminal law stipulates that whoever swindles public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also, or shall only, be fined; If the amount is huge or if there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined; If the amount is especially huge or if there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated. Where there are other provisions in this law, such provisions shall prevail.

7. It depends on the national laws and regulations, involving the amount of money. If it's more than one million, it's estimated that the sentence will be a lot. You can consult the online lawyer for details.