On December 1, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security, in conjunction with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the People's Bank of China, jointly issued the "Telecommunications Network Fraud and Related Illegal Crimes Punishment Measures," which took effect. Once a transaction involving virtual currency is deemed to fall under the scope of new regulations for punishment, it means that all cards under that name will be unusable, along with the credit punishment for phone cards. Does this mean that any transaction involving virtual currency will be subject to punishment?

In this regard, I specifically consulted my lawyer friend, and I am here to interpret the impact of the punishment measures on the cryptocurrency sector. The new regulations clearly state that only those involved in telecommunications fraud and related crimes or lending two cards (phone cards and bank cards) will be subject to criminal punishment. In other words, merely trading virtual currency will not be punished.

So what behaviors will be punished? Only if your transaction of virtual currency or the objects you assist escalate to criminal offenses will they be subject to punishment. For example, if your transaction of virtual currency constitutes aiding and abetting or concealing crimes, fraud, or other criminal offenses, or if you provide a bank card to the other party for trading virtual currency (simply put, selling USDT, etc.), and the other party is involved in aiding and abetting other criminal offenses, then you will be punished.

Now do you understand?