The first Bitcoin "mining machine" dispute case was sentenced, and the reputation dispute between Li Xiaolai and Chen Weixing will also be heard in court soon

Bianews reported that today, the Hangzhou Internet Court publicly pronounced a verdict on an online shopping contract dispute between the plaintiff Chen and the defendant, a Zhejiang company. This is also the first case of a Bitcoin "mining machine" dispute to be pronounced.

In this dispute, the plaintiff Chen claimed that the transaction of Bitcoin mining machines was suspected of being illegal, citing the central bank's requirement to stop all types of token issuance and financing activities, and that consumers had the right to return the goods without reason within seven days from the date of receipt of the goods. He asked the defendant to return the full amount of 612,000 yuan and pay interest.

However, after trial, the court determined that the contract between the plaintiff and the defendant Zhejiang Communications Technology Co., Ltd. to purchase a Bitcoin mining machine was legal and valid, and rejected all of the plaintiff's claims.

It is reported that the central bank’s announcement was issued last year, but the plaintiff only learned about it after purchasing it this year. He believed that purchasing a Bitcoin “mining machine” was also an illegal act, so he appealed.

Huang Xin, a judge at the Hangzhou Internet Court, said that although the currency attribute of Bitcoin has been banned by financial regulators, its commodity attribute still exists. Chinese law does not prohibit the production, holding and legal circulation of Bitcoin, nor does it prohibit the sale and purchase of Bitcoin "mining machines", so the purchase contract is legally valid.

Cases involving virtual currency are on the rise

In recent years, with the rise of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, the number of cases involving Bitcoin has also been rising. A search for Bitcoin-related results on the China Judgments Online website shows 315 entries.

In August this year, a Bitcoin cash dispute case attracted attention. In this case, Mr. Feng purchased Bitcoin on OKCoin. When he tried to withdraw Bitcoin cash, he found that the withdrawal failed. After unsuccessful coordination, Mr. Feng sued Beijing Lekuda Network Technology Co., Ltd. in court.

The Haidian Court concluded the case and ruled that Lekuda Company should issue 38.7480 bitcoins in cash to Mr. Feng’s registered account, and rejected Mr. Feng’s lawsuit requesting compensation for price losses of more than 160,000 yuan.

In September of this year, the Xuyi Court of Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province ruled that a digital currency contract was invalid.

It is reported that in this case, the plaintiff Hong and the defendant Teng reached an agreement on the purchase and sale contract of "Yute Coin" on WeChat, and Teng sold it to Hong at a price of 2.5 yuan per coin on November 24, 2016.

In this regard, the Xuyi Court held that the "Yute Coin" involved in this case, whether defined as an electronic currency or as a token issuance of an initial token offering, had no legitimate legal basis. The Xuyi Court determined that the plaintiff and the defendant's behavior of buying and selling Yute Coin violated the law, damaged the public interest, and was an invalid civil act, and both the plaintiff and the defendant were at fault.

Incidents of stealing electricity for mining have occurred repeatedly

In addition to disputes involving various types of virtual currencies, incidents of electricity theft involving mining machines have also occurred repeatedly.

On September 13, Datong Railway Transportation Court pronounced a verdict on a special "miner theft case". A man was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan for stealing train electricity to mine Bitcoin.

According to a Xinhua News Agency report in June, the police in Hanshan, Anhui Province, successfully smashed an illegal electricity theft gang and seized more than 200 Bitcoin and Ethereum mining machines on the spot. According to the power department's investigation, the gang stole nearly 150,000 kWh of electricity in more than a month.

Also in June, a tenant in Wuhan was exposed for stealing electricity to mine bitcoins. The tenant stole 60,000 kWh of electricity per month and maintained 80 mining machines to mine bitcoins.

In July this year, the Judgment Documents Network released the second-instance criminal verdict on theft by former Magang Co., Ltd. employees Miao Jun and Zhou Xiaojie. The two of them, together with three other people, stole electricity worth more than 2.6 million yuan, and more than 2,000 mining machines were seized.

As more and more people understand the concepts of Bitcoin and mining, many people have joined in. Because of the economic interests involved, the cryptocurrency market fluctuates greatly, leading to an increase in related disputes and cases. Similarly, the number of domestic Internet courts has also continued to increase, and they have been able to respond well to such cases.

Final chapter of war of words: Li Xiaolai and Chen Weixing will meet in court soon

Tomorrow, another highly anticipated blockchain case will be heard in Hangzhou Internet Court. The two parties in this case are well-known blockchain tycoons Li Xiaolai and Chen Weixing.

The case was caused by Li Xiaolai suing Chen Weixing for using the Internet to infringe his reputation. Li Xiaolai and Chen Weixing had a protracted "war" in June and July. At that time, Li Xiaolai said that he had sued Chen Weixing for defamation in the Hangzhou Internet Court.

Li Xiaolai recently announced his withdrawal from the blockchain circle. This lawsuit must be a complete break with the blockchain circle. Perhaps this is his final chapter in the circle.

Chen Weixing said on Weibo today that his lawyers will apply to the court to make the trial process public, hoping that it will help build integrity in the blockchain industry.

Bianews will be following the trial and reporting on it.