In China, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are "not protected by law"

Since 2019, China has continued to strengthen its fight against cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin in the lead, after having been one of its strongholds.

(illustrative image) REUTERS - FLORENCE LO

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3 min

In a judgment that may set a precedent for Bitcoin investor cases, a court in eastern China ruled that cryptocurrencies are " 

not protected by law

 ."

They thus dismissed a plaintiff who had lost more than 9,000 euros of investment when the Bank of China banned payment institutions that support transactions in private digital currency.

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With our correspondent in Beijing,

Stéphane Lagarde

The

cryptomonnaie

is not communist and the decision on appeal from the High Court in the eastern province of Shandong only confirm it.

In January 2021, the Jinan Intermediate Court had already dismissed the plaintiff, on the grounds that the assets concerned had no legal status.

But the latter was still at the end of the appeal, having lost big in the case.

In 2017, three friends offered him to invest in digital currency tokens: he then put 70,000 yuan (about 9,200 euros) which will vanish the following year, when the Bank of China banned institutions from authorizing digital currency payments.

These have been illegal in the country since 2013.

Rapid development of the digital yuan

The latest move could set a precedent and deal a further blow to Chinese bitcoin enthusiasts, after

cryptocurrency "mines" close this year

.

The decision of the Shandong judges also accompanies the rapid development

of the digital yuan

, which is itself completely official and authorized by law, since it was developed by the central bank and already being tested in a dozen Chinese megalopolises.

►

 See also: The European Central Bank launches the digital euro project

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