Chinese official Wang Moumou has just been sentenced to life in prison for selling classified documents to British intelligence. Wang accumulated large debts due to failed crypto deals and received crypto as payment for his espionage.
However, the official reports from Chinese ministries did not demonize the crypto community, but rather Wang’s own mistakes. This was a good sign that the BTC ban could be lifted in the country soon.
Wang's crypto misadventures
According to a recent report from the Ministry of National Security of Anping Province, a Chinese official named Wang Moumou has been sentenced to life in prison. Wang was convicted of espionage, selling documents and photos to foreign intelligence agencies. According to the report, he allegedly did this because he had massive debts from failed crypto deals. In exchange for his services, the Chinese official received payment in cryptocurrencies.
The National Security Agency found that Wang provided confidential and top-secret state secrets to the other party and obtained more than 1 million yuan in espionage funds through virtual currency top-up and trading. In the end, Wang was sentenced to life imprisonment by the People's Court for the crime of espionage, the report said.
In their condemnation statement, Chinese authorities did not accuse a specific foreign government of recruiting Wang. However, in earlier reports in June, they accused MI6, the British intelligence agency, of recruiting a man named Wang Moumou as a spy.
“Isolated incident” landed Chinese man in prison for life over crypto debt
Wang’s criminal involvement in the cryptocurrency world is far from an isolated incident. A notorious North Korean hacking group already uses crypto to fund espionage operations. Three years ago, a US nuclear engineer tried to sell secrets for crypto, but his “foreign handler” was actually part of an undercover FBI operation.
The Anping Ministry heavily criticized Wang’s character and general negligence, but only briefly mentioned his continued interest in crypto. Hopes for China to lift its ban on Bitcoin remained persistent in the global community.
China has shown several slightly hopeful signs about the space over the past year. At the recent BRICS Summit, for example, it was one of the main architects of a new international payments platform based on blockchain technology. The nation has also been integrating its CBDC, the digital yuan, into more local payment systems.
Ultimately, though, this espionage incident is just one possible indicator of China’s stance on crypto. Of course, it doesn’t reflect well on the community if Wang’s failed crypto dealings led him to commit treason. However, the state’s condemnation focused on his individual failings and didn’t moralize about the “corrupting powers” of crypto.
The article Crypto debt lands Chinese government official in prison for life appeared first on BeInCrypto Brasil.
