128,000 Chinese victims have waited nearly 10 years. The London High Court has finally ruled on who owns 61,000 BTC (worth about $5 billion): Chinese law applies because the fraud took place in China, and UK law has no jurisdiction.
But don’t celebrate on behalf of the victims just yet—this ruling makes recovering the money as difficult as possible. The victims had hoped to reclaim the coins directly under UK law; now they can only prove ownership under Chinese law. Their lawyer said in court that they would appeal.
The most bizarre twist: the coins are in the hands of a UK court, but the case is being decided under Chinese law—and the appreciation is most likely to end up in the UK Treasury.
Should money lost to fraud be returned to its original owners, or should it be confiscated once the stolen coins have gone up in value? Pick a side in the comments.
$BTC #比特币 #UK
But don’t celebrate on behalf of the victims just yet—this ruling makes recovering the money as difficult as possible. The victims had hoped to reclaim the coins directly under UK law; now they can only prove ownership under Chinese law. Their lawyer said in court that they would appeal.
The most bizarre twist: the coins are in the hands of a UK court, but the case is being decided under Chinese law—and the appreciation is most likely to end up in the UK Treasury.
Should money lost to fraud be returned to its original owners, or should it be confiscated once the stolen coins have gone up in value? Pick a side in the comments.
$BTC #比特币 #UK