- The situation was decided in favor of the exchange.
- According to a court ruling, cryptocurrency is property that can be held in trust.
The Singapore High Court has ruled cryptocurrency is property that can be held in trust in a case involving Bybit and its contractor.
The case involves the Bybit exchange, which has partnered with payroll services company WeChain. In September 2022, Ho Kai Sinh was responsible for the process.
Then ByBit discovered eight anomalous USDT payments totaling $4,209,720. The investigation revealed that Ms. Ho transferred these assets into her account. She accused her cousin in the case but refused to sign a statement.
Bybit subsequently filed a lawsuit in Singapore’s High Court against a former WeChain employee, alleging that the latter abused her position by transferring more than USDT 4.2 million to her own addresses.
High Court Judge Philip Jeyaretnam said that “like any other thing, USDT can be held in trust.”
He also ordered Ho to transfer the assets back to Bybit.
In his ruling, the judge cited a response published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which noted that in practice it is possible to identify digital assets. This supported the view that they could be held in trust.
The Singapore High Court said in a statement:
“This is the first time a court has ruled that the owner of a crypto asset has a property right that is recognized as movable property and enforceable in court.”
Remember, in May 2022, a court in Shanghai recognized bitcoin as virtual property under the protection of the law.
At the same time, a court in Shanghai recognized bitcoin as virtual property under the protection of the law.