Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
On Aug. 11, a Chinese individual known only as Mr. Chen was sentenced to nine months in prison after helping his friend, Mr. Lin, purchase 94,988 Chinese yuan ($13,104) worth of Tether (USDT) and earning a commission of 147.1 Yuan ($20.24).
Because Mr. Chen shared his personal bank information for the peer-to-peer fiat-to-crypto transaction, Chinese authorities considered the act to be money laundering and imposed a harsh sentence.
Chinese judge explains in a prior case why a Bitcoin lending agreement was legally invalid even in the event of a breach of contract. (Jstv)
Officially, Chinese authorities attribute the tough-on-crypto approach to a spree of data theft and the use of crypto to launder proceeds of crime. However, sources tell Cointelegraph that the crackdown is more related to the country’s stringent capital control rules, where Chinese nationals are prohibited from buying more than $50,000 worth of foreign currencies each year without a state permit. The same applies to large-sum Chinese yuan transactions with foreign banks.
The capital controls had been almost complete until the advent of crypto, sources say. The problem is further exasperated by a looming recession in China, making senior government officials wary of further money moving out of the country.
In July, Jingmen municipal police were tipped off about an online poker platform operating in the city. Raiding the offices, police discovered the group had “laundered” over 400 billion Chinese yuan ($54.93 billion) worth of gambling funds using cryptocurrencies and involving over 50,000 individuals.
However, the underlying criminal act that resulted in the “tainted money” was never mentioned. Unlike other jurisdictions, the act of gambling itself and the transfer of currencies abroad without applicable permits are deemed to be illicit activities. According to user reports, fiat-to-crypto transactions…
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