Hunan court ruled in a loan dispute case that using virtual currency to repay loans is invalid

According to China Court Network, the People's Court of Xiangyin County, Hunan Province, has heard a civil lending dispute involving virtual currency repayment of loans. Among the defendants Wang and Zhang, Wang borrowed 10000 yuan from the plaintiff Zhou in July 2020 due to cash flow needs (Zhang did not confirm), and the two jointly borrowed 50000 yuan in May 2022. Zhang subsequently repaid 40000 yuan, while Wang used virtual currency to repay the remaining 20000 yuan through the "TR Foreign Currency Platform" that had been shut down by the public security organs. Zhou did not approve of this repayment method and therefore appealed to the court. According to the Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risks of Speculation in Virtual Currency Transactions, the court pointed out that virtual currency has no legal status and cannot be circulated and used. Wang's debt repayment behavior is invalid and he needs to continue to repay. In the end, the court ruled that Wang should repay 10000 yuan in principal and interest, and Wang and Zhang should jointly repay another 10000 yuan in principal and interest. Both parties have accepted the verdict, which has now come into effect. This case indicates that virtual currency cannot be used as an effective means of debt repayment.