2026-01-14 01:22:55

Cryptocurrency criminal cases have gained popularity in the past two years. What was once a niche area of law enforcement has now become a hot topic in judicial practice. Especially regarding legal recognition of crimes such as virtual currency crimes, illegal business operations, and USDT trading, judicial disputes are increasing. Many people involved in virtual currency trading are stuck on one question: Is cross-border arbitrage involving U商 illegal or not?

Let's first look at a typical case—the Zhao case handled by the Xihu District Court in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 2022. This individual was convicted of illegal business operations for engaging in arbitrage through buying and selling virtual currencies. This case was also listed as a typical example by the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for cracking down on virtual currency-related illegal activities, making it quite significant.

From the case briefing, it can be seen that Zhao's method was to carry out cross-border arbitrage by trading USDT and other virtual currencies. In simple terms, he exploited price differences across different exchanges for profit. What was the result? This operation was directly classified as illegal business operations.

Based on publicly available information, a question has begun to emerge: Does any behavior involving cross-border arbitrage with virtual currencies automatically constitute illegal business operations? Where are the legal boundaries for this judgment? What further judicial disputes need clarification? These are issues that practitioners must understand clearly.

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RiddleMaster

· 6h ago

Zhao's case really scared the U merchants quite a bit. Now who dares to casually mine coins? --- The legal boundaries are so blurry, who can be sure about whether they will get caught or not? --- Once the label of illegal business operation is slapped on, it feels like all arbitrage activities are over. --- This is a typical case, basically setting rules for the entire industry. --- The question of whether cross-border arbitrage is legal or not has been asked for so long without a clear answer. It's outrageous. --- Making money from price differences is originally very normal. Now it's considered a crime? The judicial shift is a bit intense. --- After the case in Xihu District came out, it feels like the days of U merchants have become difficult. --- Can't figure out which lines can't be touched, so no one dares to move in this area anymore. --- Suddenly, virtual currency cases have become a hot topic. Is there some signal behind this? --- Practitioners must understand this? The problem is, no one can really clarify it at the moment.

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DisillusiionOracle

· 6h ago

Zhao's case indeed served as a wake-up call for all U-commerce practitioners.

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PoetryOnChain

· 6h ago

Once Zhao's case came out, U-coin traders all had to tighten up, and the matter of mining definitely needs to be carefully considered.

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WhaleStalker

· 7h ago

Zhao's case indeed scared the circle quite a bit... Why is arbitrage through transferring bricks considered illegal directly? The legal boundaries are hard to define. Once this Zhejiang ruling came out, U-commerce started to panic. Is price difference arbitrage really illegal, or does it only count when it reaches a certain scale... Now, cross-border arbitrage is going to cool off. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has even mentioned it, and there will definitely be more storms ahead. With so many disputes in the judiciary, practitioners need to be even more cautious. The bottleneck issue—how to define what is illegal? This Zhejiang ruling carries too much weight; the industry is watching.

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