The Singapore Supreme Court has recognized the stablecoin USDT as property that can be held in trust, according to the decision in the case of crypto exchange Bybit last July 25.
The platform has filed a lawsuit against its employee Ho Kai Xin, accusing her of breach of employment contract and abuse of office. Ho allegedly transferred more than $4.2 million in USDT to personal wallets, as well as an undisclosed amount of fiat money to a personal bank account.
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During the trial, Bybit requested a declaration that such assets were held in trust by this employee. In turn, Ho accused his cousin Jason Teo of stealing the funds and claimed he is the owner of the addresses where the funds were received.
After reviewing the circumstances of the case, the Singapore High Court has concluded that Jason "does not exist or did not play the role Ho claimed" and has ordered the defendant to transfer the assets to Bybit.
The judge has said:
"In principle, the owner of a cryptoasset has an intangible property right recognized at common law as property in claims and therefore enforceable in the courts."