Chinese court treats Bitcoin as property in 107 BTC memory theft case
A Qingdao court sentenced Zhang to 10 years and nine months in prison and fined him 100,000 yuan for stealing 107 Bitcoin from an acquaintance’s wallet. The victim, Feng, had asked Zhang to help cash out 117 Bitcoin and wrote down a 12-word recovery phrase during setup. Zhang memorized 11 words, reconstructed the final one, and later took control of the wallet. He transferred 107 Bitcoin and converted them into more than $97,000. When Feng reported the missing funds, investigators traced the transactions to Zhang. Zhang admitted moving the Bitcoin but claimed he was safeguarding it and denied profiting, while prosecutors relied on electronic records showing he cashed out the assets. The case also reinforced that Chinese prosecutors treat Bitcoin as “property” under criminal law, despite broader crypto restrictions.
