In 20 19, a company signed a series of contracts with a company in the blockchain, stipulating that a company entrusted a company in the blockchain to purchase and manage a micro-storage space server (i.e., "mining machine"), provide value-added services for bitcoin mining data and pay value-added service income, and a company paid management fees to a company in the blockchain. After the contract was signed, a company paid 6.5438 billion yuan to a company in the blockchain, and a company in the blockchain purchased the "mining machine" and signed an entrustment contract with a third-party company. After the contract is signed, a company in the blockchain pays 18.3463 bitcoin to a company as data value-added income, and there is no income thereafter. A company repeatedly urged no results and appealed to the court, requesting the court to order a company in the blockchain to deliver bitcoin and compensate for the loss of the micro-storage space server after the service expired.
After trial, the court of first instance held that the "mining" agreement should be invalid because it harmed the public interest, and the judgment rejected all the claims of a company. A company refused to accept the appeal.
The Beijing No.3 Intermediate People's Court held that bitcoin and related economic activities have new complexity, and the regulatory measures of China's regulatory agencies on bitcoin production and trading are based on their objective understanding and are constantly improving. The determination of contract effectiveness should be based on the objective understanding of current mining activities.
Speculation in virtual currency transactions disturbs the economic and financial order, breeds illegal and criminal activities such as gambling, illegal fund-raising, fraud, pyramid selling and money laundering, and seriously endangers people's property safety and national financial security. The behavior of "mining" at the expense of power resources and carbon emissions is contrary to the high-quality development of economy and society, the peak value of carbon dioxide emissions, the goal of carbon neutrality and the public interest. The relevant departments have rectified the "mining" activities of virtual currency and identified the business activities related to virtual currency as illegal financial activities, which is conducive to protecting China's development interests and financial security. Judging from the high energy consumption of "mining" and the impact of bitcoin trading activities on the national financial order and social order, the contract involved should be invalid. As the main body of the socialist market economy, both sides should not only abide by the rules of the market economy, but also bear corresponding social responsibilities to promote high-quality and sustainable economic and social development.
Editor Sun Linzhi