The High Court of Justice for England and Wales has ruled that Tether's USDT stablecoin, the largest by market capitalization, qualifies as property. This decision comes just a day after the U.K. government began legislating on the status of cryptocurrencies.
In the ruling, Deputy High Court Judge Richard Farnhill stated, âUSDT attracts property rights under English law. It can be subject to tracing and can constitute trust property just like other forms of property.â
The case was brought by Fabrizio DâAloia, who claimed to be the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. The lawsuit primarily involves the crypto exchange Bitkub, one of seven defendants named, including two unidentified individuals and Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume. According to court filings, the case against Binance has been settled.
DâAloia alleged that an unidentified defendant tricked him into transferring cryptocurrencies, including USDT and Circleâs USDC, worth around ÂŁ2.5 million ($3.3 million). The alleged scammer moved the funds through various blockchain wallets before another unknown defendant withdrew the money as fiat currency via Gate and Bitkub exchanges.
Just a day prior, the U.K. government introduced a bill aiming to recognize cryptocurrencies as property. The bill, drafted by the Law Commission, had its first reading in Parliament. Farnhill's ruling aligns with the bill's suggestion that cryptocurrencies are neither âthings in possession,â like physical objects such as money and cars, nor âthings in action,â such as debts and shares, but are still considered property.
Despite this, the judge ruled in favor of Bitkub, concluding that DâAloia had no claim against the exchange, as it "did not receive anything from him." Additionally, the court document noted that DâAloia's claim against Aux Cayes Fintech, another crypto trading platform, was dismissed.
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