The Intermediate People's Court of Leshan, Sichuan, elevated the trial of a foreign exchange case involving virtual currency transactions, clarifying the characterization of new types of crimes.
A case published by the Chongqing Yubei District Court intuitively demonstrates the space for exorbitant profits. Judicial verdicts show that in early 2018, a certain individual named He registered as a 'merchant' on a virtual currency trading platform, specifically engaging in the exchange of Tether (USDT) and RMB. On this trading platform's self-selected trading area, different merchants exhibited variations in payment channels, transaction limits, and transaction prices, with the price for purchasing USDT mainly concentrated around 6.85 yuan, while the selling price was mostly around 7 yuan. This means that for every USDT traded, at least a profit margin of about 0.15 yuan could be earned; if the market experienced severe fluctuations, the price difference could further expand, sometimes even being sold at 7.5 yuan, thus significantly increasing profit margins.
With this buy low, sell high model, and alongside the continuous expansion of trading scale, He not only invested his own funds but also attracted others' funds to participate in the exchange business, with a total amount involved reaching up to 609 million yuan. These funds rapidly circulated among the accounts he controlled, forming a large illegal capital chain. By May 2019, the total transaction volume of the bank accounts he controlled had reached 14 billion yuan, with personal illegal profits amounting to 4.77 million yuan.
The People's Court of Yubei District in Chongqing sentenced him to three years in prison for illegal business operations and imposed a fine of 5 million yuan.
