Bitcoin gained a lot of traction in the past thanks to the support offered by people in China, which were more than willing to use the cryptocurrency for daily commerce. However, at the beginning of 2017 rumors started to go around that financial regulators in the country will attack blockchain-based assets. This did become reality as there was a ban put on ICOs and crypto trading established in the later part of 2017.
While people believed that it is impossible to own or trade cryptocurrencies in China, a recent case handled by a court in Shenzen took the side of Bitcoin and brought some clarity around the regulatory climate of the country.
It was CnLedger that claimed the fact that Shenzen Court of International Arbitration members made a favorable ruling in regards to Bitcoin. The tweet that was released stated:
Chinese court confirms Bitcoin protected by law. Shenzen Court of International Arbitration ruled a case involving cryptos. Inside the verdict: CN law does not forbid owning and transferring bitcoin, which should be protected by law because of its property nature and economic value.
According to CnLedger, the verdict shows that Chinese law allows people to own and transact Bitcoin. A local source made the extra mention that the ruling highlighted the crypto asset as being legal because of the inherent nature it has of being a property, together with the economic value.
This regulatory statement is interesting but we are talking about the exact same court that decided Bitcoin is not legal. Even so, lawyers that oversaw the case made it clear that using BTC can offer economic benefits. This is why the asset is considered as valid in legitimate use and bona fide cases.
What is really important is the location of the ruling. Shenzen is an important economic zone in China, which may be way the ruling was favorable.
The main thing to remember here is that Bitcoin restrictions are not actually consistent in China. Beijing is doubling-down on anti-cryptocurrency trading efforts. This even included a public warning about ICOs, the blocking of 124 exchanges and crypto media outlets being banned. This made many traders start using OTC (over-the-counter) exchanges in order to trade cryptocurrencies. Obviously, this is not beneficial for anyone.
The fact that the court validated using Bitcoin in transactions can easily become a precursor for Chinese crypto exchanges coming back on the market. The bottom line here is that the move will surely not jumpstart a new wave of adoption for cryptocurrencies in China. Even so, this shows that some hope still exists and we never know when something will change.
