A man in Qingdao, China, was sentenced to 10 years and 9 months for stealing 107 BTC while "helping an acquaintance register a wallet."
Recently, the People's Procuratorate of Licang District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China, handled a Bitcoin theft case. The defendant, Zhang, obtained the mnemonic phrase while assisting an acquaintance in registering a virtual currency wallet, and later transferred 107 BTC in multiple transactions, equivalent to over 50 million yuan at current market prices. Zhang argued that his actions were a "protective takeover," but the prosecution found that he transferred the stolen BTC through multiple trading platforms and exchanged it for over 660,000 yuan. The Licang District Court sentenced Zhang to 10 years and 9 months in prison for theft and imposed a fine of 100,000 yuan; the second instance upheld the original judgment.Reports indicate that the prosecutor handling the case strictly adhered to laws and judicial policies, and after in-depth analysis, concluded that although China's regulatory policies deny the legal currency status of virtual currencies, they do not negate their property attributes, nor do they prohibit citizens from legally holding and circulating them. Bitcoin requires investment in computing power, funds, and other costs to acquire, which gives it economic value; rights holders can achieve exclusive control and management through private keys and mnemonic phrases, aligning with the core characteristics of "property" in criminal law, making it a target for theft. In determining the amount, since virtual currencies have no official pricing, the Licang District Procuratorate discarded market price estimates and used the actual proceeds from the crime of over 660,000 yuan as the amount for theft, ensuring accurate conviction, appropriate sentencing, and unity of guilt and punishment.
