A high court in Shanghai, China’s largest city and a worldwide financial centre, has declared Bitcoin to be property under Chinese law, pitting the government against its own anti-crypto stance.
According to a report released on Thursday, May 5 by the Shanghai Baoshan District People’s Court, “Bitcoin as a virtual property has property features and is regulated by property rights rules and regulations.”
The court based its decision on a case in which a plaintiff, Cheng Mou, sued the defendant, Shi Moumou, on October 10, 2020, seeking the recovery of one bitcoin. The defendant neglected to return the bitcoin after the judgement was entered, causing the plaintiff to seek execution. The defendant was served with an enforcement notice, but he continued to default, alleging that he lacked Bitcoin.
Despite the fact that recovering Bitcoin was difficult due to the anonymity of transactions, the court concluded that “Bitcoin exhibited the characteristics of value scarcity.” As a result, it had the features of the right object and matched the conditions for virtual property composition. As a result, the court had the ability to carry out enforcement and disposal procedures in accordance with property law.
However, because there was no way of recovering the Bitcoin, according to Qian Zhengxiao, an Assistant Judge of The Executive Bureau of The Peoples Court of Baoshan District, the court could still enforce its own judgement by following the proper legal process and determining that the plaintiff was indeed owed by the defendant.
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