On July 16th, according to the Huxiao Law official account, in a Chongqing case, the defendant He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 5 million yuan by the Yubei District People’s Court of Chongqing for illegally engaging in fund payment and settlement business on a certain virtual currency trading platform to profit from the price difference. Dissatisfied with the first-instance verdict, He appealed to the Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court. During the appeal process, He claimed that the exchange business between the virtual currency and the Chinese yuan did not constitute fund payment and settlement activities, and therefore did not constitute the crime of illegal operation. The Chongqing First Intermediate People’s Court, after trial, recently ruled to dismiss the appeal and uphold the original verdict.
