"Court Rules: Chinese Law Bars Overseas Virtual Currency Investments"

The Jiangsu High Court recently ruled that overseas virtual currency investments are not protected by Chinese law, according to a typical case of foreign-related commercial trial released by the court's official WeChat account. In the case, a Singaporean citizen, Pan, and a Chinese citizen, Tian, signed a cooperation agreement to jointly operate the "MFA Blockchain" project. Pan transferred 15.74 million yuan to Tian to purchase MFA virtual currency. However, the virtual account involved in the case was locked, preventing any further transactions and resulting in a total loss of the principal amount. Pan filed a lawsuit with the court.

In the second instance of the Jiangsu High People's Court, it was found that Pan is a Singaporean citizen, and this case involves foreign elements. According to the principle of law application in China, where it involves China's financial security and public interest, the mandatory provisions of Chinese laws and regulations should be directly applied. Chinese laws and regulations prohibit virtual currency investments. In this case, the parties to the contract speculated on overseas virtual currency, which violated the mandatory provisions in China's financial regulation field. The investment losses claimed by the parties are not protected by law. Any resulting losses are to be borne by the parties themselves.