Chinese arbitration court rules bitcoin is protected as property

Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration published a case detailing its ruling on a dispute involving the possession and transfer of cryptoassets. According to the details of the case, a plaintiff signed a contract with a defendant, in which the latter would trade and manage cryptoassets on behalf of the plaintiff. However, the defendant failed to uphold the contract and then refused to return the cryptoassets, claiming that because the People's Bank of China (PBOC) banned cryptocurrency trading and ICOs, the contract should be invalid.

However, the arbitrator explained that the nature of the case does not fall under the bans outlined by the PBOC. The arbitrator believed that there is no law in China that prohibits the ownership bitcoin and the transaction of cryptoassets between individuals. As such, the arbitrator concluded that the legal tender status of bitcoin does not have an impact on the fact that bitcoin ownership is legally protected under China's contract law. (Source: CoinDesk)