Chinese Supreme Court Threatens Jailtime to Those who Fundraise With Crypto

Chinese courts will now issue jail sentences if individuals engage in fundraising activities via crypto from the public.

New Guideline: Crypto Fundraising, A Punishable Offence

After an intense crackdown on trading and mining, China is taking its anti-crypto stance to another level. For the first time, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court has announced amending the interpretation of the nation’s Criminal Law to make public fundraising through “virtual currency” illegal. According to the official court document, the new law will be effective from March 1st.

In case the amount of crypto fundraising exceeds 100,000 yuan ($16,000), the public deposit will be deemed a “large amount.” On the other hand, if the amount is over 500,000 yuan ($79,000), it will be flagged as “other serious circumstances,” as stipulated in Article 192 of the Criminal Law.

Changes were also introduced with regards to conviction and punishment for crimes associated with illegal fundraising. The supreme court has retained the original features of the law and has new ones, including – crime, online lending, virtual currency transactions, financial leasing, etc., to the newly revised document.

According to reports, the main idea behind the revision is to elucidate the application of relevant laws, better implement the criminal policy of incorporating leniency with strictness, punish illegal fundraising crimes under the law, and preserve national financial security and stability.

NFT Fever

China’s stringent cryptocurrency policy isn’t surprising. In September 2021, the authorities had declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal. Since then, the regulators have brought about several policies to completely get rid of any operations related to the cryptocurrency industry.

However, the hype around NFTs does not appear to be cooling down. The fever surrounding this new space is being further fanned with the entry of high-profile Chinese companies such as Tencent.

CryptoPotato had earlier reported that the state-backed Blockchain Services Network (BSN) is eyeing to roll out a new platform offering support for non-fungible tokens. The upcoming project is set to offer application programming interfaces for users to develop and manage user portals and apps regarding NFTs.

Instead of traditional marketplaces that use crypto or some kind of digital asset, clients of BSN’s new platform can use only the Chinese Yuan for purchases and service fees. Initially, BSN plans to integrate the NFT platform will ten chains, such as Fisco Bcos, initiated by WeBank.