China tackles cryptocurrency crimes with first case conviction and new guidelines to standardize virtual currency crime prosecution
The Xuhui District Procuratorate in China has revealed the country’s first illegal acquisition of digital wallet private keys, which marks the country’s crypto virtual currency crime case. This action was taken in response to the growing and widespread crimes related to crypto.
Along with the case announcement, the Xuhui District Procuratorate and the Xuhui District Public Security Bureau have also collaborated in signing the ‘Guidelines for the Standardization of the Disposal of Virtual Currency Involved in Criminal Litigation.’ These newly signed principles provide a clear plan for dealing with virtual currency cases, including important steps like collecting evidence, seizing assets, keeping them safe, and disposing of them.
The effort to combat the growing cybercrime in China was more evident as ‘Guangqi X Space’ was established. This platform, initiated by the Intelligent Procuratorial Research Center of the Shanghai Procuratorate and managed by the Xuhui District Procuratorate, focuses on new cyber-related crimes involving artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, and digital assets. It aims to be a center for handling cases, sharing knowledge, and developing effective rules.
More so, the space will also help provide a detailed prosecution system for combating and preventing cybercrime and creating top-tier legal protection for technology innovation.
Combating the Rise of Cybercrime in China
The head of the Xuhui District Procuratorate’s cyber prosecution team Song Shanshan revealed that the number of criminal cases involving digital currency has been on the high side for the past three years. He noted that the crimes are well organized, and the techniques deployed are also specialized. Large sums of money are always involved, sometimes reaching millions of yuan.
To explain this, the first case of illegal acquisition of digital wallet private keys in China was published. It involved three individuals who were found guilty of illegally obtaining 27,622 mnemonics, 10,203 digital wallet private keys, and 19,487 digital wallet addresses.
It was revealed that the three alleged criminals, which included a man identified as Liu, joined forces to implant a backdoor in an application package containing a virtual currency wallet, allowing them to perpetuate their illegal act.
The data obtained was then used to obtain 19,487 digital wallet addresses, which further signals the need for a more secure system in the virtual currency space. Following a filing by the Xuhui District Procuratorate, the bad actors were all sentenced to three years in prison and fined 30,000 yuan by the Xuhui District Court for illegally obtaining data.
The newly established platform and the introduction of new guidance to combat cybercrime by the Chinese authority are good steps in the right direction. The cybercrime issue in the digital currency space is becoming more alarming as each day passes, resulting in many losing a lot of funds. This new initiative would, in a way, help curb cybercrime activities within the Chinese environment and probably beyond.
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Julia Sakovich on X
