Chinese Court: Citizens Have the Right to Own and Trade Cryptocurrencies

A Chinese court ruled this week that citizens in Asia’s economic number one economic power have the right to own and trade cryptocurrencies.

In the verdict, The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) proclaimed that digital assets such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum are property under Chinese law:

“[Bitcoin] should not be used as a currency in the market. However, there is no law or regulation that explicitly prohibits parties from holding bitcoin or private transactions in bitcoin…”

But the Shenzhen court did make sure to distinguish Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as property and not currency, which means that coins and tokens are taxed like income or assets. If cryptos were considered currency, they would not be subject to capital gains taxes.

According to crypto, this is one of the biggest roadblocks to mass adoption of digital assets worldwide, as it puts a heavy tax burden on any person who wants to transact using cryptocurrencies.

But the ruling by the Shenzhen court is still a major victory for blockchain enthusiasts who are hoping that China will be the second Asian country–following Thailand–to legalize the trading of cryptocurrencies nationwide.

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