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UK court says Chinese law governs 61,000 Bitcoin fraud claims

London's High Court has ruled that Chinese law, not English law, decides whether victims of a 2014-2017 fraud have property rights in 61,000 seized Bitcoin now worth over $5bn.

Why it matters: The ruling shapes how victims of a large crypto fraud can claim seized Bitcoin, and whether they gain from its appreciation or rank only as creditors.

InvestIn.News NewsDesk · 1 min read
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Picture from Cointelegraph for: UK court says Chinese law governs 61,000 Bitcoin fraud claims
Image: Cointelegraph
Original reporting: Ezra Reguerra, Cointelegraph

Key points

  • Justice Mark Turner rejected English law and mixed-law arguments on Monday, saying the damage occurred in China.
  • The Bitcoin was seized by British authorities in a money-laundering investigation into a scheme run by Zhimin Qian between 2014 and 2017.
  • Law firm Fieldfisher, representing claimants, is appealing the ruling, according to the Financial Times.

A UK court has ruled that Chinese law governs claims to 61,000 Bitcoin seized by British authorities, Cointelegraph reports, in a setback for Chinese fraud victims seeking to recover the assets.

Turner said the relevant damage occurred in China, where the applicants parted with their money and where the induced contractual relationships were entered into. Chinese law must therefore determine whether the claimants hold property rights in the seized Bitcoin, with the validity of those claims left to later proceedings.

British authorities seized the assets during a money-laundering investigation. The victims had sought English law because it could have let them claim direct ownership rather than seek compensation as creditors.

The ruling does not decide who ultimately owns the seized assets. Fieldfisher, which represents claimants, is pursuing an appeal, according to the Financial Times.

Read the full story on Cointelegraph

Live updates on NewsFeeds:RegulationBitcoinDesk editor: Keshav Aggarwal (accountable for this page; this summary was not edited by hand)

How this was produced: an AI model wrote this summary of Cointelegraph’s report, which we credit and link above. Read our Editorial and AI policy. Spotted a mistake? See Corrections.

Not investment advice. Read the risk disclaimer.

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