中国模糊的加密货币法律地位：上海法院裁定一种具有“财产属性”的虚拟商品

中国上海松江区人民法院的一名法官在该法院微信公众号上发布了一篇关于中国发行虚拟货币合法性的文章。

A judge in China has given her opinion on the legality of cryptocurrency in the country, in an article about a business dispute over the failure to produce a white paper for a virtual currency.

中国的一名法官在一篇有关未能制定虚拟货币白皮书的商业纠纷的文章中就该国加密货币的合法性发表了意见。

The judge’s comments shed light on crypto’s murky legal status in China, where ownership of digital assets is not banned but exchanges were ordered to close down in 2017.

法官的评论揭示了加密货币在中国模糊的法律地位，中国并未禁止数字资产的所有权，但交易所在 2017 年被勒令关闭。

The agricultural development company signed a “Blockchain Incubation Agreement” with the investment management company in 2017. The agricultural company paid 300,000 yuan (about $44,400 at the time) for the investment company to produce a white paper as the basis for the issuance of a cryptocurrency.

农业开发公司于2017年与投资管理公司签署了《区块链孵化协议》。农业公司支付30万元人民币（当时约合44,400美元）让投资公司制作一份白皮书作为发行加密货币的基础。

However, a year later, no token had been produced, and the investment company said the agricultural company needed to develop an app before the token could be issued. The agricultural company instead applied to the court to recover the money it had paid.

然而一年后，还没有产生任何代币，投资公司表示，农业公司需要开发一个应用程序，然后才能发行代币。该农业公司转而向法院申请追回其已支付的款项。

The court ruled that the companies’ agreement envisioned illegal activities, for which both parties bore responsibility. It ordered the investment company to return 250,000 yuan.

法院裁定，两家公司的协议设想了非法活动，双方均应承担责任。责令投资公司返还25万元。

The judge, Sun Jie, wrote that virtual currency does not have the status of fiat currency, but is instead a virtual commodity with “property attributes.” She stated:

法官孙杰写道，虚拟货币不具备法定货币的地位，而是一种具有“财产属性”的虚拟商品。她说：

“Virtual currency, as a specific virtual commodity, is not protected by the state. Individuals and enterprises, by blindly participating in virtual currency transactions, will not have the complete protection of the law.”

“虚拟货币作为一种特定的虚拟商品，不受国家保护。个人和企业盲目参与虚拟货币交易，不会得到法律的完全保护。”

The article also reproduces Article 153 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, as it is the relevant legislation to the case.

文章还转载了《中华人民共和国民法典》第一百五十三条，作为本案的相关立法。

China’s central bank and 10 government agencies joined forces in 2021 to tighten control over transactions with virtual currencies.

2021年，中国央行和10个政府机构联手加强对虚拟货币交易的控制。