一、做U商在我国合法吗？
什么是U商？指的是靠买卖USDT赚取差价的币商。USDT（泰达币）是稳定币，直接对标美元，因此做u商买卖，可以说是稳赚不赔。例如，6.7买u，6.73卖出，赚3分，一天买卖10万u，可日赚3000。
So, is it legal to be a U-commerce business in my country?
According to the spirit of the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Speculation Risks in Virtual Currency Transactions" (hereinafter referred to as the Notice) issued by the Central Bank and other ten departments on September 24, 2021, virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities and are to prevent and deal with the risks of speculation in virtual currency transactions. Deal with the risk of speculation in virtual currency transactions, prevent virtual currency from becoming a tool for illegal and criminal activities such as gambling, illegal fund-raising, fraud, pyramid schemes, money laundering, etc., and prohibit any person or organization from providing business activities or services related to virtual currency to the public.
Article 4 of the notice also clearly stipulates that there are legal risks in virtual currency transactions, and personal investment in virtual currencies is not protected by law because it violates public order and good customs.
"(4) There are legal risks involved in participating in virtual currency investment and trading activities. If any legal person, unincorporated organization or natural person invests in virtual currency and related derivatives that violates public order and good customs, the relevant civil legal actions will be invalid, and the resulting losses shall be borne by them themselves; Those suspected of disrupting financial order and endangering financial security will be investigated and dealt with by relevant departments in accordance with the law."
However, the notice does not restrict virtual currency transactions between individuals, that is: "It is not a crime if there is no express provision in the law." In other words, legal currency transactions and currency transactions between individuals are currently allowed and are not restricted by law.
只是由于该行为不被国家鼓励或保护，因此，做U商在实践中存在诸多法律风险。
二、做U商会遇到哪些“坑”？
U merchants can be divided into on-site U merchants (who trade on the trading platform and need to pay the trading platform margin) and off-site U merchants (who do not go through the trading platform, and both parties trade offline, which can be in cash or as agreed upon by both parties) other ways of trading), both models have their own advantages and disadvantages.
All in all: the biggest risk for on-site U-commerce merchants is "getting caught", and the biggest risk for off-site U-commerce merchants is "being cheated".
The following examples are explained.
1、被抓
场内U商的风险在于收到“黑钱”，银行卡被冻结。虽然对用户进行KYC审核是作为一名合格U商必备的基本能力，但U商的交易资金来源无非是炒币，网赌，传销，电信诈骗等类型，银行流水极易触发银行的反诈系统，被公安等部门司法冻结。
In addition to the high risk of being "frozen", if the source of funds is suspected of gambling, fraud, etc., it may constitute the crime of money laundering, the crime of covering up and concealing criminal proceeds (crime of concealment), or the crime of assisting information network criminal activities (facilitating information) sin) etc.
For example, in a 2022 Xi'an court case [Case No. (2022) Shaanxi 0104 Xingchu No. 219], the two defendants, acting as virtual currency acceptors (U merchants), earned income by buying low and selling Tether (USDT) high. During this period, two people were caught for receiving 50,000 yuan of fraudulent funds from their bank cards respectively. The two returned the defrauded funds to the victim and obtained forgiveness, but they were still convicted of the crime of collusion by the court and were sentenced to one year and nine months in prison respectively.
2. Be cheated
The profit of U merchants off-site is much higher than that on-site. For example, it is not surprising to earn 3 cents on-site and 30 cents off-site. So why would anyone be willing to sell U at a low price outside the market? We mentioned above that because U-commerce merchants on the market are all trading online, some risks are indeed difficult to guard against when being "monitored" by trading platforms, banks, public security anti-fraud centers, etc. The advantage of over-the-counter U-commerce merchants is that the two parties can communicate offline, such as in cash, "paying money with one hand and handing Us with the other", then it can be ensured to the greatest extent that the card will not be "frozen", but if it is "made Game", you can only suffer the loss of being dumb.
For example, as a currency dealer, you saw the information posted by Xiao Wang about collecting U in cash at a high price (a reasonable price slightly higher than the market price), so you contacted Xiao Wang, and the two parties agreed on an offline transaction, and you gave Xiao Wang the U on the spot. , Xiao Wang will hand over the cash on the spot. At the appointed time to meet offline, Xiao Wang informs you that he is on a temporary business trip and asks his friend, the little prince, to come to the scene to trade with you. After the meeting, the handover went smoothly. You got the cash the little prince brought, and the little prince also received the U.
After a while, Xiao Wang contacted you again to collect U. The transaction method was the same as above, but the little prince still came to the scene. Based on the trust relationship between the two parties in the previous transaction, you transferred U to Xiao Wang, but this time, the little prince refused to give you the cash. So you immediately contacted Xiao Wang to inquire about the situation, but this time Xiao Wang lost contact...
In this incident, the little prince was actually a currency dealer who had never met Xiao Wang. In the first transaction, you transferred U to Xiao Wang, and Xiao Wang (in order to defraud your trust) immediately transferred U to Xiao Wang. prince. Xiao Wang used the method of cheating on both sides, claiming to the little prince that he could sell him U at a low price, and let the little prince come to the scene to trade with you.
这时，如果你将小王子带来的钱强行拿走，可能构成抢劫罪，因为小王子并没有收到u，而如果就此放弃，你就损失了转账给了小王几十万U。如果你去找公安机关报案，说自己被诈骗了价值几十万的U，公安会问，你主张损失价值几十万的依据是什么？（我国在2013年《关于防范比特币风险的通知》及2017年《关于防范Token发行融资风险的公告》发布后，已全面禁止任何主体从事数字货币的发行、兑换及定价、信息中介等服务。
三、曼昆律师建议
1、对用户的KYC审核务必做到专业严谨
KYC认证其实就是一种实名认证机制，主要用于预防反洗钱、身份盗窃、金融诈骗等犯罪行为。对用户的KYC审核，可以说是做U商所必备的基本能力，包括但不限于要求用户提供身份证明，银行流水，地址电话等，对用户的身份进行审核，但正如笔者此前的文章《虚拟货币OTC商家，涉嫌刑事犯罪如何辩护罪更轻？》中所提到的，绝大多数U商不具备识别黑钱的能力，并且，若U商交易额越做越大，碰到黑钱难以避免。但即便是再周密的KYC认证，也无法核实用户的资金来源。
2、若被抓，尽早委托辩护律师介入
如上文所述，U商的KYC审核无法核实用户的资金来源，即便是有一定行业资历的U商，通过自己的社会经验，可以大致判断某用户的交易资金是否涉嫌犯罪，但难免出现百密一疏的时候。此时，公安机关若认定案件涉嫌帮信罪或掩隐罪，在行为人口供本身不承认的情况下，也会推定U商对犯罪行为“主观明知”。例如，U商曾经被冻卡、交易价格明显高于或明显低于市场价、使用加密软件进行聊天等行为，都会触及帮信罪司法解释规定的关于主观明知的推定规则。此时，一个专业负责的刑事律师将对案件的走向起着至关重要的作用。
3、若被冻卡，联系公安提供材料积极沟通
在交易中，可以使用多张卡进行首付款，分散风险，避免因某单个卡交易流水过大而被银行监管或司法冻结。若不幸被冻卡，但自身确实是正常的交易行为，可第一时间联系承办警官，询问冻卡原因，是因为自身的交易本身涉嫌犯罪资金，还是其银行卡上下游的关联方交易资金异常？涉案金额大概有多少？了解基本情况之后，就可以有针对性的向警方提供材料，证明银行卡内资金的合法性。