According to ChainCatcher, according to the official account of the People's Court of Lingling District, Yongzhou City, the People's Court of Lingling District, Yongzhou City recently concluded a dispute over unjust enrichment caused by the failure of virtual currency repayment. In January 2020, Yang transferred 78,000 yuan to Xie via WeChat, hoping that Xie would help him buy a certain virtual currency on a certain platform for investment, and entrusted Xie to hold it on his behalf. So, Xie was entrusted by Yang to buy virtual currency and hold it on his behalf. After a while, Yang asked to withdraw from the investment, and Xie transferred 3,000 virtual currencies to Yang's "wallet address" on the platform, and said that he would settle the account later.
In April 2021, Yang sued Xie to the court. After mediation by the court, the two reached a mediation agreement, and Xie was willing to return 78,000 yuan to Yang in one lump sum. After Xie returned 57,000 yuan to Yang, he was unwilling to return the remaining debt, saying that the 3,000 virtual currencies previously transferred to Yang were worth more than 20,000 yuan and should be deducted from the debt. Yang did not agree with the above repayment method. Because the debt was not repaid, Xie asked Yang to transfer the virtual currency back, but the virtual currency platform had been closed, so Xie sued Yang to the court, demanding that Yang return 3,000 virtual currencies equivalent to more than 20,000 yuan.
After trial, the Lingling District People's Court held that the Civil Code aims to protect the legitimate rights and interests of civil subjects and maintain social and economic order. A certain virtual currency does not have the same legal status as legal tender, is not legal compensation, and should not and cannot be circulated and used as currency in the market. Xie asked Yang to return the cash value of 3,000 virtual currencies, which actually claimed the exchange between virtual currency and legal tender. The claim was not legal, and the two parties did not reach an agreement on the compensation amount of a certain virtual currency. The final judgment dismissed Xie's lawsuit. After Xie appealed the judgment, the second-instance court upheld the original judgment.