Laws and regulations on virtual currency investment

1. 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. Virtual property is not protected by law at present! Money in society is just a kind of special commodity to facilitate economic exchanges, which is issued by special state institutions. Moreover, money can not be issued indiscriminately. If the ratio between the currency in circulation and the country's GDP is out of balance, it may lead to one of two consequences: first, inflation. 2、 Economic crisis. Every year, the country carries out macro-control and evaluation on the gross output value of the economy, so as to determine the amount of money issued in the next year. To maintain the economic balance of the country. Now you can think about how money comes from in the virtual society of online games. The answer is very simple. Most of the money in the game is earned by killing monsters or virtual skills. No game has a special currency issuing agency. In other words, money can grow infinitely in the game. So inflation is very common in the game. Similarly, other virtual items in the game can be increased infinitely, regardless of the daily economic law, as long as they are used by appropriate means (such as plug-ins). If we link these two kinds of property completely affected by different economic laws, what will be the consequences?

4. With the rapid development of information instry in recent years, the Internet has entered the homes of ordinary people, and many people are not unfamiliar with virtual property. Small to the game equipment, virtual currency, big to QQ number, game account belongs to the category of virtual property. According to the calculation of relevant departments, last year, the scale of the domestic Internet virtual money market was more than 10 billion yuan, and this market is still growing at an annual rate of more than 20%. However, coins have two-sided properties, and the network itself has given birth to many unprecedented legal problems, which makes people at a loss. Such as network theft, right protection and other issues continue. According to the survey statistics of China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), "61% of the game players have experienced the theft of virtual property, and 77% of the game players feel that the current network environment is a threat to their virtual property.". These things that you and I are used to, for various reasons, may face illegal infringement and can not get right relief. The infringement of virtual property occurs from time to time, but most of them make the judicial authorities face such problems vaguely because of the lack of a clear and unified understanding in theory: either not to file a case, or to convict and sentence the defendant for the crime of infringing freedom of communication, or to sentence the defendant for the crime of theft. There are legal gaps in both civil and criminal aspects. From this point of view, the determination of the legal status of virtual property is the key to the problem. 2、 The legal status and necessity of virtual property there are two opposite views on the legal status of virtual property in China. The negative thinks that it has no value, only exists in the virtual society, and there is no need to protect it. The proponents think that the virtual property is obtained through personal labor, and there is no essential difference between the property that can circulate and the real social property, so it should be protected. In my opinion, under the current situation, it is necessary to bring virtual property into the scope of law 1 Virtual property has legal property attribute. 1. As a property, it must meet the following three conditions: first, it must have value; Second, there must be scarcity, that is, there must be no unlimited existence; Third, it must be legitimate. First of all, virtual property has value, which meets the requirements of value - undifferentiated human labor. The value of virtual property needs to consider time, money, intellectual skills, market supply and demand, game cycle, quantity and price of functional substitutes. Take QQ games as an example. These games all have levels. Players have to pay time and money to get to a higher level. The higher the level, the higher the value of this account in the market. Secondly, just like real objects, the equipment and game currency in the game are limited, and there are also specific objects and kinds of objects. As for legitimacy, that is obvious. 2. Virtual property has poured a lot of time, energy and money into the players. Although it can't be seen in the real society, it does exist. Just like the mobile phone number, it has positive significance for hundreds of millions of Internet users and can meet people's certain needs, including material and spiritual. In this respect, it is also in line with the nature of intangible property, which belongs to intellectual property (Liu Chuntian: Director of intellectual property teaching and research center of Renmin University of China). 3. Virtual property can be controlled by manpower, including deletion, modification, use and transfer. Therefore, virtual property has the property attribute in law 2 Virtual property transaction has a great impact on the real society. Mainly in two aspects: 1, the reality of a large number of virtual goods trading status. Online property such as game currency has initially been able to be exchanged with RMB, and some online game operators even take the sale of virtual property as their profit model (so this year, 14 ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of culture, jointly issued the notice on Further Strengthening the management of Internet cafes and online games). It is necessary to strengthen the regulation and management of virtual currency in online games, prevent the impact of virtual currency on the real economic and financial order, and limit the total amount of virtual currency. 2. Network theft of virtual property is also happening in large numbers. The current situation of network theft is that the theft mode of collectivization and instrialization endangers the survival of the Internet. Therefore, whether from the current situation of virtual goods trading or network theft, it shows the urgency of virtual property protection 3 It is the requirement of building a good faith and friendly society. Nowadays, the theft of property in reality has moved to the Internet, such as the theft of virtual property and other infringement events can not but be said to be a reflection of the real society. Since the Internet has been developing in China for a long time, we should try our best to purify this land. If we can effectively curb such behavior on the Internet, it will have a good role in promoting the construction of a good faith and friendly society. Containment can only be regulated by law. As a special property right of users, whether the network virtual property can be incorporated into the legal system of our country determines whether the judicial department can directly apply the laws of our country to protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the name of virtual property in law. Only when the name is correct, can we have the basis to formulate various laws and regulations to protect citizens' property more effectively. 3、 The protection of virtual property must admit that the protection of virtual property is still in the stage of theoretical exploration in China, and the debate has never stopped. In the face of this new phenomenon, it seems that it is not enough to only consider the traditional legal model. Therefore, we need to solve this problem with innovative thinking and appropriate reference to foreign advanced legal model 1 The interpretation and supporting provisions of the property law. People have high expectations for the recently passed property law, but there are no relevant provisions on virtual property in this law. For the lack of this aspect, we can consider to be reflected in the subsequent legislative or judicial interpretation, in order to improve the function of the property law, so that the law can protect citizens' property more thoroughly 2 Criminal law protection. We can consider adding charges or expanding the interpretation of property in the criminal law. As mentioned above, the judicial authorities have totally different opinions on the cases of infringement of virtual property. The same case but different qualitative may send a bad signal to the society. Under the existing legal framework of China, it is completely feasible to expand the interpretation according to a new situation 3 We should attach importance to the role of precedents. For example, after the first case of Internet theft in China was tried by Shenzhen court, it has played a good exemplary role for other courts to deal with similar issues. We can see that more and more courts recognize the legal status of virtual property and fictitious property. In the judgment of a local court in Jiangxi Province, it clearly recognized that virtual property belongs to the property protected by law. The court held that although there are still no relevant laws and regulations on the identification of virtual property in China, virtual property and real property have common interests in possession, use and income, which should also be protected by law 4 The way of administration. Government departments should also do a lot in this regard. We can formulate relevant laws and regulations to strengthen the management of network companies and Internet cafes, improve the registration system, make it clear that the legal network virtual property is protected by law, and punish the infringement of other people's legal network virtual property. Strictly implement the real name identity system of online games, and establish the reporting center for virtual property infringement 5 Some experiences of developed countries and regions are worth thinking and learning. Take South Korea, the most developed country of online games, as an example. When the game instry started to develop, it was also faced with the same confusion as we are now. It went to the two extremes of ignoring and over limiting, but it did not receive good results. After re examining the virtual transaction, South Korea finally recognized the legitimacy of virtual goods in law, and virtual transaction was also protected by law. Not long ago, South Korea proposed to further prohibit the intermediary services of virtual currency transaction, and formulated the "game instry revitalization law". Many developed countries and regions in the world, such as South Korea, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and so on, have clearly recognized the value of "network virtual property" in legislation and judicature, and have been regulated by criminal law, and there have been criminal judgments against infringement of network virtual property. Some countries make it clear that virtual property has independent property value, which is the same as the traditional meaning of "property", and include virtual property into the object category of traditional property crime; Some countries, such as Switzerland, have expanded the system of traditional property crimes and created new ones, such as the crime of illegally obtaining data. Law comes from life, but it is higher than life. When the problem comes, we can only deal with it actively, but not evade and let it go. We should play an active role in guiding and maintaining the law. The market scale has reached tens of billions of huge market, if the lack of effective legal management, the network world will enter a disordered state of chaos, and then spread to the real society, if not timely and properly solve this legal problem, it will have a great impact on the personal property of citizens and social stability, but also against the original intention and essential requirements of building a harmonious society.

5. There is no special regulation

6. There is no specific provision, but it can be combined with the corresponding laws. For example, if it constitutes unjust enrichment, it can be returned. If it constitutes a crime, the amount involved is also calculated according to the value of real currency. Generally speaking, virtual currency transactions on the Internet are protected by law. But there is no specific provisions, we can refer to the real currency to protect their own law and rights.

7.

It is illegal to issue virtual currency privately

According to Article 29 of the regulations of the people's Republic of China on the administration of RMB, no unit or indivial is allowed to print or sell token tickets to replace RMB in circulation on the market

In addition, the "emergency notice of the State Council Office for rectifying unhealthy tendencies in the instry, the State Economic and Trade Commission and the people's Bank of China on prohibiting the issuance and use of various token certificates (cards)" also strictly prohibited similar issues

extended data

virtual currency refers to non real currency. Well known virtual currencies, such as online currency of Internet company, q-coin of Tencent company, q-point and voucher of Shanda company, micro currency launched by Sina (used for micro games, Sina reading, etc.), chivalrous Yuanbao (used for chivalrous road game), silver grain (used for bixue Qingtian game), and popular digital currencies in 2013 include bitcoin, Laite coin, infinite coin, quark coin, zeta coin, etc Barbecue coins, pennies (Internet), invisible gold bars, red coins, prime coins. At present, hundreds of digital currencies are issued all over the world. Popular in the circle & quot; The legend of "bitcoin, Wright silver, infinite copper, pennies aluminum"

market formation

the Internet has led to the emergence of a new market, which is a virtual market based on cyberspace. The Internet provides a lot of communication places for consumers, and also provides business market for enterprises. Enterprises must change from proct centered to service centered to customer centered. With the development of computer artificial intelligence technology and database technology, enterprises can conveniently collect customers' information, understand customers' needs in time, change business strategies and grasp economic arteries in real time

With the rapid development of computer and network communication technology, the application of Internet technology has graally penetrated into various fields of human activities, and the unlimited business opportunities that it contains make businesses turn their eyes to e-commerce. E-commerce is penetrating into all aspects of social and economic life at a speed that people can hardly imagine

the traditional finance is also closely watching this irresistible trend of global economic integration and networking. As a result, value-added services take art as the selling point and can be regarded as commodities; The sword in the game is not a brand-new financial services business philosophy - e-finance came into being

from the historical development process, to understand e-finance, we must start from the electronic finance and e-commerce. The so-called e-financialization means that financial enterprises adopt modern communication, computer, network and other information technology means in addition to Internet technology to improve the work efficiency of traditional financial service business, rece operating costs, realize the automation of financial business processing, informatization of financial enterprise management and scientific decision-making, and provide customers with faster and more convenient services, And then enhance the financial enterprise is the behavior of market competitive advantage

e-finance is a transcendence of financial electronization. Different from the electronic finance, the main technical basis of e-finance operation is the increasingly perfect Internet technology. Due to the characteristics of global connectivity, openness, quickness and low marginal cost of Internet technology, e-finance strengthens the restructuring and innovation of financial services business based on Internet technology, so that customers are free from the restrictions of business hours and places, and enjoy all kinds of high-quality and low-cost services provided by financial enterprises anytime and anywhere

with the development of Internet, the form of money is becoming more virtual, and there is an electronic money that only exists in the form of electronic signal

reference source: Network: virtual currency

8. At present, the integration of Internet finance laws and regulations in China
Internet finance is an emerging field combining the traditional financial instry with the Internet spirit. The spirit of "openness, equality, cooperation and sharing" of the Internet penetrates into the traditional financial instry, forming the unique characteristics of the Internet financial instry. In recent years, China's Internet finance instry has developed rapidly, but China's financial legal system generally does not pay enough attention to the new financial format of Internet finance. Although some Internet finance laws and regulations have been issued in succession, the Internet finance laws and regulations are generally less. The author lists the corresponding regulatory laws and regulations of the existing Internet finance model as follows:

first, the criminal law
Internet Finance access threshold is low, only by virtue of a computer, a set of 200 yuan source code can build a P2P network loan platform, so it is inevitable that some swindlers use the P2P network loan platform to cheat money and run away, It has caused huge losses to investors. Using the Internet to conct illegal activities may involve the following crimes:

Article 176 of the criminal law [crime of illegally absorbing public deposits] Whoever illegally absorbs public deposits or absorbs public deposits in disguise, thus disrupting the financial order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than 20000 yuan but not more than 200000 yuan; 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 not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan. Where a unit commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph<

Article 192 of the criminal law [crime of fraud in raising funds] Whoever illegally raises funds by means of fraud for the purpose of illegal possession, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined not less than 20000 yuan but not more than 200000 yuan; If the amount is huge or if there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan; 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 not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan or be sentenced to confiscation of property< On June 4, 2010, the people's Bank of China issued the measures for the administration of non financial institutions' payment services (No.2 [2010]). Article 1 of the measures stipulates that the purpose of the measures is to promote the healthy development of the payment service market, standardize the payment service behavior of non-financial institutions, and prevent payment risks, Protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties. Article 2 of the measures specifies that the term "non-financial institution payment service" as mentioned in the measures means that non-financial institutions, as intermediaries, provide some or all of the following monetary fund transfer services between the payees and payers: (1) online payment 2 Issuance and acceptance of prepaid card 3 Bank card receipt 4 Other payment services determined by the people's Bank of China. The term "network payment" as mentioned in the Measures refers to the behavior of transferring monetary funds between payees and payers relying on public network or private network, including currency exchange, Internet payment, mobile phone payment, fixed phone payment, digital TV payment, etc. The term "prepaid card" as mentioned in these Measures refers to the prepaid value of goods or services issued for profit and purchased outside the issuing institution, including prepaid cards issued in the form of cards, passwords, etc. by adopting magnetic stripe, chip and other technologies. The bank card acquiring as mentioned in the Measures refers to the behavior of collecting monetary funds for special merchants of bank cards through point of sale (POS) terminals The administrative measures for payment services of non-financial institutions is an important regulatory regulation for third-party payment< On August 23, 2011, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) issued the notice on risk warning of Renren loan [2011] No. 254, which pointed out that in the current situation of tight bank credit, the intermediary companies of credit and loan services of Renren loan (peer to peer) are developing rapidly. This kind of intermediary company collects information of borrowers and lenders, evaluates borrowers' collateral, such as real estate, automobile, equipment, etc., and then matches them, and charges intermediary service fees. The media have made a lot of reports on the operation and influence of such intermediary companies, which has aroused much attention. In this regard, the CBRC organized a special investigation, found a large number of potential risks and gave tips. Thus, the notice is only a risk warning document for Renren loan

at the inter ministerial joint meeting of nine ministries and commissions on the disposal of illegal fund-raising held on November 25, 2013, the central bank clearly defined the illegal fund-raising behavior of P2P online lending instry, which mainly includes three types of situations: fund pool mode; fund pool mode; fund pool mode; The risk of illegal fund-raising caused by unqualified borrowers and Ponzi scheme<

3. Regulations on crowdfunding financing
recently, the securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the draft regulation on crowdfunding financing. Crowdfunding financing for the public was approved by the "jump start our business startups act" (jobs act) in early 2012, that is to say, to provide services for various projects, enterprises and enterprises on the Internet The fund-raising of enterprises and even companies is confirmed by law. This is an important measure taken by the US government to regulate crowdfunding

on September 16, 2013, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) reported that some companies on taobao.com were suspected of issuing stocks without authorization, and called a halt. The suspension is based on the notice of the general office of the State Council on severely cracking down on issues related to illegal issuance of shares and illegal operation of securities business (GBF [2006] No. 99), which stipulates that "any shareholder of a company is strictly prohibited from transferring shares to the public by himself or by entrusting others in an open manner". So far, it is known as Chinese style "crowdfunding", that is, the behavior of issuing shares to the public by using the network platform is defined as "illegal securities activities" for the first time. Although the crowdfunding model is concive to solving the financing problem of small and medium-sized micro enterprises, considering the current legal framework, domestic crowdfunding websites can not simply the American model, and must find a crowdfunding road suitable for China's national conditions

according to the interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the specific application of law in the trial of criminal cases of illegal fund-raising, crowdfunding mode is almost easy to press the red line of violation in form, that is, it constitutes illegal fund-raising without permission, through public recommendation on the website, promising a certain return, and absorbing funds from non-specific objects. The United States legislates for crowdfunding. We can learn from the jobs act of the United States to regulate the crowdfunding model, but it still needs a graal process< On June 4, 2009, the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the notice on strengthening the management of online game virtual currency (Wen Shi Fa [2009] No. 20), which stipulates that market access should be strictly enforced and the management of issuers and providers of online game virtual currency trading services should be strengthened. Engaging in "online game virtual currency trading service" business must comply with the relevant provisions of the competent department of Commerce on e-commerce (platform) services. In addition to legal currency purchase, online game operation enterprises shall not provide online game virtual currency to users in any other way. On July 20, 2009, the Ministry of Culture issued the declaration guide for "online game virtual currency issuing enterprises" and "online game virtual currency trading enterprises", which provides operational guidance rules for the declaration and approval work of operating Internet cultural units applying for "online game virtual currency issuing services"

on September 28, 2008, the State Administration of Taxation issued the official reply on the issue of personal income tax on the income of indivials from buying and selling virtual currency through the Internet (Guo Shui Han [2008] No. 818), which clarified the tax treatment of virtual currency, that is, the income obtained by indivials from purchasing players' virtual currency through the Internet and selling it to others after price increase belongs to the taxable income of personal income tax, The indivial income tax shall be calculated and paid according to the item of "income from property transfer"

in short, the introction of a series of regulatory measures makes the regulation of virtual currency further clear, but the regulatory measures are only limited to the virtual currency in the game< On June 29, 2001, the people's Bank of China issued the Interim Measures for the administration of online banking business, but it was abolished in 2007

on January 26, 2006, the CBRC promulgated the measures for the administration of e-banking (CBRC Order No. 5, 2006). The term "e-banking" in the Measures refers to the use of communication channels or open public networks open to the public by commercial banks and other banking financial institutions, as well as the private networks established by banks for specific self-service facilities or customers, Banking services to customers. E-banking business includes banking business carried out by computer and Internet (hereinafter referred to as Internet banking business), banking business carried out by voice communication equipment such as telephone and telecommunication network (hereinafter referred to as telephone banking business), banking business carried out by mobile phone and wireless network (hereinafter referred to as mobile banking business), As well as other use of electronic service equipment and network, by the customer through self-service way to complete financial transactions of banking business The measures for the administration of e-banking is an important regulatory regulation for Internet banking< On September 20, 2011, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued the notice of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) on printing and distributing the measures for the supervision of Internet insurance business of insurance agents and brokers (Trial) (CIRC [2011] No. 53). The purpose of the measures is to promote the development of insurance agents and brokers The standard, healthy and orderly development of Internet insurance business of brokerage companies should effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the applicant, the insured and the beneficiary. In May 2012, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued the notice on risk warning of Internet insurance business (CIRC notice [2012] No. 7), which gave risk warning to the majority of policyholders for the Internet insurance instry. In addition, on April 15, 2011, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued the "Internet insurance business regulatory provisions (Draft)", which will be further improved in the near future

in a word, Internet financial innovation emerges in endlessly, which means the emergence of new financial models and the need for new regulatory laws and regulations. Moreover, the current Internet financial regulatory laws and regulations are not perfect, some internet financial models have appeared, but the relevant regulatory provisions are still lagging behind, that is, the regulatory gap. It is expected that the regulatory authorities will improve the supervision of Internet finance related fields as soon as possible.

9. In order to protect the property rights and interests of the public, protect the legal tender status of RMB, prevent the risk of money laundering, and maintain financial stability, the people's Bank of China, the Ministry of instry and information technology, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the Recently, China Insurance Regulatory Commission jointly issued the notice of the Ministry of instry and information technology of the people's Bank of China, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission on the prevention of bitcoin risk (YF [2013] No. 289, hereinafter referred to as the "notice")

the notice defines the nature of bitcoin, and holds that bitcoin is not issued by the monetary authority, has no monetary attributes such as legal compensation and compulsion, and is not a real currency. In terms of nature, bitcoin is a specific virtual commodity, which does not have the same legal status as currency and cannot and should not be used as currency in the market. However, bitcoin trading as a commodity trading behavior on the Internet, ordinary people have the freedom to participate at their own risk

the notice requires that at this stage, all financial institutions and Payment institutions shall not price procts or services with bitcoin, buy or sell bitcoin as a central counterparties, underwrite insurance business related to bitcoin or include bitcoin into the scope of insurance liability, and provide other bitcoin related services to customers directly or indirectly, Including: providing bitcoin registration, trading, clearing, settlement and other services for customers; Accept bitcoin or use bitcoin as a payment and settlement tool; Carry out bitcoin and RMB and foreign currency exchange services; Carry out bitcoin storage, custody, mortgage and other services; Issuing financial procts related to bitcoin; Take bitcoin as the investment target of trust, fund, etc

according to the notice, the bitcoin Internet website, as the main trading platform of bitcoin, shall be filed with the telecommunications administration according to the provisions of the Telecommunications Regulations of the people's Republic of China and the measures for the administration of Internet information services. At the same time, in view of bitcoin's high risk of money laundering and being used by criminals, the notice requires relevant institutions to perform the legal anti money laundering obligations such as customer identification and suspicious transaction report in accordance with the anti money laundering law of the people's Republic of China, so as to effectively prevent the money laundering risks related to bitcoin

in order to avoid excessive speculation of virtual commodities such as bitcoin in the name of "virtual currency" and damage the public interest and the legal tender status of RMB, the circular requires financial institutions and Payment institutions to correctly use the concept of currency in their daily work, pay attention to strengthening the ecation of the public's knowledge of currency, and correctly understand the concept of currency The concept of correctly treating virtual commodity and virtual currency, rational investment, reasonable control of investment risk, and maintenance of their own property security should be included in the content of financial knowledge popularization activities, so as to guide the public to establish a correct concept of currency and investment

in the future, the people's Bank of China will continue to pay close attention to the trend and related risks of bitcoin based on its own responsibilities End)

bitcoin home has an interpretation.

10. There's a fart about the market value of virtual goods. There are some