Shanghai Second Intermediate Court Seminar: Personal Holding and Trading of Cryptocurrency Generally Not Recognized as Illegal Business Operations

Guided by the Chinese Criminal Law Research Association and the Shanghai High Court, the Shanghai Second Intermediate People's Court and the Law School of Renmin University of China jointly hosted a seminar on criminal trials, focusing on the theme of "Legal Uniformity in Cases Involving Virtual Currency Crimes." The discussion content is summarized as follows:

The determination of "subjective knowledge" in virtual currency money laundering crimes should be assessed comprehensively to prevent objective attribution of guilt.

The identification of the types of acts and standards for completion in virtual currency money laundering crimes involves: first, accurately grasping the essence of the crime, which is "concealing and disguising the source and nature of criminal proceeds and their profits"; second, the acts of concealing and disguising criminal proceeds and their profits, as stipulated in the elements of the money laundering crime, constitute the completion of the crime; third, strictly combating money laundering crimes in accordance with the law to resolutely safeguard national financial security.

The determination of illegal operation crimes involving virtual currency indicates that if the behavior does not possess characteristics of business operations and merely involves personal holding or trading of currency, it is generally not recognized as illegal operation. However, if the individual is aware that others are illegally buying or selling or indirectly trading foreign exchange and still provides assistance through the exchange of virtual currency, and the circumstances are serious, they should be recognized as an accomplice in illegal operation crimes.