Shenzhen Court has ruled that ether (ETH) token is protected by law, and Chinese citizens are not prohibited from owning and operating cryptocurrencies, iHodl Russia has learned.
An engineer at the Xinyijia blockchain company, named Lee, participated in the Haode Star project a year ago, a joint project between his firm and Haode Trade. During his course, Lee gained access to the Haode account on the imToken payment platform.
The engineer was later fired after a trial period. Dissatisfied with the dismissal, Lee used the data received and withdrew the funds belonging to Haode with imToken.
These funds were 3 ETH and 4 million Haode tokens. Later Lee stole another 0.4 ETH from the company. The court sentenced the defendant to seven months in prison and a fine of 2,000 yuan (approximately $282). He is also required to indemnify the affected company for 5,500 yuan (~ $780).
The court ruled that cryptocurrency assets "have economic value and can be sold publicly."
Previously the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, announced that the digital yuan will be ready for use in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
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