As a virtual article, Bitcoin (BTC) cannot be protected by the Chinese law, a court in Fujian province reportedly ruled on May xiii.

Fujian court dismisses a Bitcoin-related lawsuit

According to Fujian Rule of Law News, the court was considering a dispute involving an investment to a "Bitcoin-themed society". The plaintiff, named Liao, allegedly invested 500,000 yuan ($seventy,500) in this club. His expectation was that high returns would follow.

After failing to receive whatever of his funds back, Liao sued the operator of said Bitcoin club. The Changting People'southward Court then ruled that because Bitcoin is a virtual commodity, it does not fall nether its jurisdiction. The lawsuit was dismissed as a result.

Other Chinese courts deemed Bitcoin a digital property earlier

Interestingly, the recent ruling seems to contradict previous reports from Mainland china. Before this month, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Bitcoin is a digital asset and therefore should be protected by the law.

The case was initiated by an international married couple in Shanghai, Pete and Xiaoli Wang, who were robbed at their flat by 4 people in 2022. The attackers forced Pete and Xiaoli to transfer their cryptocurrency savings, held in BTC and Skycoin, to their wallets.

The court ordered the robbers to return the same cryptocurrency, or pay their victims in yuan based on the BTC and Skycoin price from June 12, 2022. The burglars appealed the ruling, arguing that "the current Chinese laws do not recognize the property attributes of Bitcoin and Skycoin."

The court has since ordered the attackers to render the couple'due south eighteen.88 BTC. The thieves never returned the couple'due south stolen Skycoins.

In July 2022, the Hangzhou Cyberspace Court likewise ruled that Bitcoin should be considered digital property, although the experts interviewed past Cointelegraph at the time were skeptical to call it a regulatory thaw.