Cryptocurrency owner convicted in China for cryptocurrency transactions

The People’s Procuratorate of Fuzhou Mawei, China, has accused a man known as Chen of illegally purchasing the cryptocurrency Tether (USDT) for 94,988 yuan (approximately $ 13,067).

According to local press reports, last February, a friend of Chen’s, a certain Lin, asked the man to provide him with personal credit card information. Later, Lin sent Chen seven transfers in Chinese yuan. In turn, Chen purchased USDT for the fiat and sent them to Lin.

For the service, Chen received only $ 20 from his friend. This is how the Fuzhou Mawei Prosecutor’s Office commented on the «criminal actions»: «Fraudsters use virtual currency to transfer and launder stolen funds. Such online money laundering under the guise of buying cryptocurrency is a violation of the law. Other people are using the information network to commit crimes, it’s not friendly help.»

Chen was subsequently sentenced by the Fuzhou Mawei People’s Procuratorate to nine months in prison, suspended for a year. The man also paid a fine of 5,000 Chinese yuan ($ 689).

Since the beginning of 2023, the Chinese authorities have been cracking down on cryptocurrency activities in China. Recently, the political commissioner of the Network Security Bureau, Jinfeng Sun, said that blockchain and artificial intelligence were used by Chinese citizens «in several events involving fraud and data theft.»

However, the Chinese ruling elite itself is not above accumulating digital assets. Earlier, we talked about the research of CryptoQuant analysts. According to the cryptocurrency fact-checkers, the Chinese government has not only become one of the largest bitcoin whales in the world, but also owns more BTC than is held in the accounts of MicroStrategy, the most famous company that regularly buys the flagship crypto asset.