虚拟货币支付在中国是否合法？

上周京师深圳律所进出口法律事务部接到来自意大利的G先生关于国际货物买卖的咨询，他通过Facebook平台线上认识了中国一家公司的雷先生，通过微信沟通双方协商一致订立了关于GPU销售的买卖合同，雷以企业的名义向G先生发出形式发票，指示G先生向一串数码形成的地址支付与美元等价的USDT，G先生支付后，雷并没有按照合同约定三天内发货，而是以各种借口拖延了两个月，G无奈之下找到律师请求帮助。

G先生向我们提供了以下材料：一份没有签字盖章的形式发票，上面有货物信息及货款金额和指示支付USDT地址，以及雷的联系方式；雷的两张照片和他的微信地址。G甚至无法提供雷的真实名字，更不要说是他的身份信息。我们尝试用形式发票地址联系雷，但电话无法接通，微信地址也没有通过。在无法确定对方身份的情况下，在中国提起诉讼是非常困难的，即使通过法院的调查令取得雷的身份信息，案件得以在法院起诉，那USDT的支付方式是否可以在中国法院得到支持，在中国目前的司法实践中，对虚拟货币如何认定存在争议。在众所周知的复杂的国际大环境下，国际贸易支付已然成为争端产生的焦点，前段时期PayPal的中国客户账户被封也引起关注。在一些国际货物交易中，买卖双方沟通一致采取虚拟货币支付的方式来当作货款已经成为绕不过的法律问题。虚拟货币的性质在中国法律上如何认定，而在中国的司法实践中又如何处理相关的问题，我们有必要在此进行探讨。

The gentleman provided us with the following materials: a pro forma invoice without signature and seal, with the information of the goods, the amount of the payment and the USDT address instructed to pay, as well as Lei's contact information; two photos of Lei and his WeChat address. G couldn't even provide Ray's real name, let alone his identity. We tried to contact Lei with the pro forma invoice address, but the phone couldn't get through, nor did the WeChat address. When the identity of the other party cannot be determined, it is very difficult to file a lawsuit in China. Even if Lei’s identity information is obtained through the court’s investigation order and the case can be prosecuted in the court, whether the USDT payment method can be supported by the Chinese court? In China's current judicial practice, there is controversy over how virtual currencies are identified. In the well-known complex international environment, international trade payment has become the focus of disputes, and the closure of PayPal's Chinese customer accounts in the previous period also attracted attention. In some international goods transactions, it has become an unavoidable legal issue for buyers and sellers to communicate and agree to adopt virtual currency payment as payment for goods. How to determine the nature of virtual currency in Chinese law, and how to deal with related issues in China's judicial practice, it is necessary for us to discuss here.

Take the country’s first case of revocation of an arbitration award involving Bitcoin [(2018) Yue 03 Minte No. 719] as an example: On December 2, 2017, an agreement signed by the parties stipulated that Gao would remove Li in three phases. All the digital currency assets (20.13 bitcoins, 50 bitcoin cash, 12.66 bitcoin diamonds) entrusted to him for financial management were returned to Li's e-wallet. As a result, after the agreement was signed, Gao failed to perform his contractual obligations. Li then applied for arbitration to the Shenzhen Arbitration Commission according to the arbitration clause in the agreement, claiming that Gao should return the US dollars and interest equivalent to the above-mentioned digital currency assets. After hearing, the arbitral tribunal held that Gao’s failure to deliver the bitcoins, etc., which were mutually agreed upon by both parties and deemed to have property significance, constituted a breach of contract and should be compensated. However, Gao Mouyu then sued the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, requesting the Shenzhen Intermediate Court to revoke the above-mentioned arbitral award. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court cancelled the arbitral award because the arbitral award violated the public interest, which means that Li has no interest in Bitcoin. actually supported.

那么是否可以认为，在中国不能使用虚拟货币呢？也不尽然，目前司法实践中法院对大数据、虚拟财产的保护秉持较为积极、开放的态度，即只要这些数据、虚拟财产是企业通过合法、正当的经营活动取得且未损害他人合法权益，法院一般会承认企业由此获得的商业利益并予以保护。2021年2月在上海宝山区人民法院关于比特币纠纷的一起案例判决中，法院就判决被告向原告返还一个比特币，最终案件在执行过程中达成和解，被执行人最终以人民币84000元的价格折价赔偿给申请执行人。回到文章初始我们提到的咨询内容，G先生为了获取合法的货物，支付了相应对价的USDT， 应该得到法律的保护。

So can it be considered that virtual currency cannot be used in China？It is not always the case. At present, in judicial practice, the courts hold a more positive and open attitude towards the protection of big data and virtual property, that is, as long as these data and virtual property are obtained by enterprises through If the legal and legitimate business activities are obtained without harming the legitimate rights and interests of others, the court will generally recognize and protect the commercial interests obtained by the enterprise. In February 2021, in a case judgment on a bitcoin dispute by the Shanghai Baoshan District People's Court, the court ruled that the defendant should return one bitcoin to the plaintiff, and the final case was settled during the execution process, and the person subject to execution finally settled the price of RMB 84,000. compensation to the applicant. Returning to the consultation content we mentioned at the beginning of the article, Mr. G paid the corresponding consideration in USDT in order to obtain legal goods, which should be protected by law.

为了更好的保障国际贸易安全， 进出口法律事务部主任赵宝莲律师对海外的买家提出以下的建议：

In order to better ensure the safety of international trade transactions,lawyer Zhao Baolian,director of the import and export legal affairs department,makes the following suggestions to overseas buyers:

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加盟电话：400-870-1119 或  13510165167

国际业务联系：400-808-7862

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