Chain Law Research: Can Bitcoin Inherit?
Whether it is the "General Principles of Civil Law" or the "Civil Code" that is about to come into effect, they are open to the protection of data and network virtual property. According to the current legal provisions, is Bitcoin a legally protected virtual property? Is the "ancestral bitcoin" that everyone often ridicules "leaving bitcoin to the next generation" legally feasible? In the following, we will explain the above questions one by one.
Since October, the price of bitcoin has risen day after day, reaching as high as US$19,888, while the historical highest price of bitcoin is US$19,875. This time the price rose, breaking through the all-time high price of Bitcoin.
On January 3, 2009, Satoshi, the founder of Bitcoin, created, compiled, and packaged the first open source code on a small server in Helsinki, and the first block in the Bitcoin world was created. Bitcoin born.
Later, for a long time, Bitcoin was worthless in the eyes of ordinary people. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyec, an early bitcoin miner programmer, successfully purchased two pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins. Probably no one would have imagined that ten years later, Bitcoin would rise to $20,000, and these two pizzas would be worth $200 million.
There are countless similar examples in the currency circle.
According to data from the authoritative blockchain data platform Glassnode, as of November 4, the number of addresses holding 1 or more BTC has reached 824,193, setting a new record. The previous all-time high was 824,160 set on September 17.
Due to the large price fluctuations, everyone starts to buy bitcoins at different prices. Old people in the currency circle who started to hold bitcoins very early will laugh at themselves that they hold "ancestral bitcoins", "keep my bitcoins To future generations"...Although they are all jokes, whether Bitcoin can be inherited is a very serious legal issue.
Let's first take a look, so far, what are the current laws and regulations related to Bitcoin?
The document that mentions the nature of Bitcoin in my country's current laws and regulations is the "Notice on Preventing Bitcoin Risks" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") issued by the People's Bank of China and other five ministries and commissions on December 5, 2013.
The "Notice" mentioned: "Bitcoin has four main characteristics: no centralized issuer, limited total amount, use without geographical restrictions, and anonymity. Although Bitcoin is called "currency", because it is not a currency Issued by the authorities, it does not have currency attributes such as legal compensation and mandatory, and is not a currency in the true sense. From the nature, Bitcoin should be a specific virtual commodity that does not have the same legal status as currency. It cannot and does not It should be used as currency in circulation in the market.”
At the same time, the central bank's announcement also pointed out:
"However, bitcoin trading is a kind of commodity buying and selling behavior on the Internet, and ordinary people have the freedom to participate at their own risk."
In addition, on September 4, 2017, the People's Bank of China and other seven ministries and commissions issued the "Announcement on Preventing the Risks of Token Issuance and Financing" (hereinafter referred to as the "Nine Fourth Announcement"), which stated: "Tokens used in token issuance and financing Or "virtual currency" is not issued by monetary authorities, does not have monetary attributes such as legal compensation and mandatory, does not have the same legal status as currency, and cannot and should not be used as currency in circulation in the market."
The 94th Announcement also emphasized: “From the date of this announcement, any so-called token financing trading platform shall not engage in the exchange business between legal tender and tokens, and “virtual currency”, and shall not buy or sell or act as a central counterparty for buying and selling. Tokens or "virtual currencies" shall not provide pricing, information intermediary and other services for tokens or "virtual currencies".
Although the "Notice" clearly denies the legal currency status of Bitcoin, it does not restrict the holding and trading of Bitcoin by ordinary people. The "Nineteenth Fourth Announcement" also prohibits token issuance financing and corresponding trading platforms and payment settlements, and it does not deny the existence of Bitcoin as a virtual property.
From the perspective of effectiveness level, the above-mentioned "Notice" and "94 Announcement" should belong to departmental regulations. If you want to know more about the substance of the announcement, you can refer to the previous articles of Lianfa. (Extended reading: Chain Law Research｜The September 4th Announcement that has been misunderstood)
That is to say, from a legal point of view, Bitcoin belongs to a specific virtual commodity, that is, virtual property.
On January 1, 2021, the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Civil Code") will be officially implemented, and at the same time, the "Succession Law of the People's Republic of China" will be abolished at the same time.
According to the "Civil Code", the above-mentioned "Notice" and "94 Announcement", when we answer the question "Can Bitcoin be inherited?", we need to understand two questions:
First, does the Civil Code protect virtual property? (Or does the law protect virtual property?) And the legal attributes of Bitcoin.
secondary title
Does the Civil Code protect virtual property? What are the legal attributes of Bitcoin?
Article 127 of the "Civil Code" is about the "protection of data and network virtual property", which stipulates that "if the law has provisions on the protection of data and network virtual property, follow its provisions."
In the "Interpretation and Application of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as "Understanding and Application") published by the People's Court Press and compiled by the Leading Group for the Implementation of the Civil Code of the Supreme People's Court, there is a clear interpretation of this article. Which clearly:
This article is an inductive regulation on data and network virtual property, but it declares the protection of data and network virtual property, and provides a legal basis for the subsequent special laws. The "Civil Code" has reserved this provision of the "General Provisions of the Civil Law".
"Understanding and Application" pointed out: "The above regulation is a regulation with epochal significance. The 21st century is the era of the Internet, and new technologies represented by key technologies such as cloud computing, big data, 5G, artificial intelligence, and blockchain have already It will still have a huge impact on the modern economy and society."
"Understanding and Application" also pointed out that: data and virtual network property is a special type of thing, with the following characteristics:
(1) It is legally disposable and exclusive. Both data and network virtual property are virtual objects based on data. For the right holders, they can be exclusively occupied, controlled and used.
(2) Data and network virtual property have economic value. The data and network virtual property protected by the civil law are obtained by the right holder through legal labor, are exchangeable, and have certain economic value.
(3) Although data and network virtual property are intangible, they also have a certain "tangible" existence in cyberspace. This "tangible" is relative to the online world, and does not really exist. After all, data storage requires space, and network virtual property also has space for activities.
It is not difficult to see that Bitcoin clearly fits all the above characteristics.
Of course, legally protected virtual property should also have the characteristics of "legality"—the generation and acquisition of virtual property should comply with the provisions of the law.
That is, virtual property should not be prohibited or restricted by the laws of our country, nor should it be mixed with pornographic, violent, reactionary, etc. content. At the same time, the legality of virtual property is also reflected in the legality of the acquisition method. Whether it is the aforementioned "Notice" and "Nineteenth Fourth Announcement", or other legal regulations, it does not stipulate that digital assets such as Bitcoin are illegal.
At present, Bitcoin has the characteristics of legality. That is to say:
Bitcoin, as a virtual property, is protected by law.
In fact, except for the limitation on the "legality" of property and some exclusionary provisions in the Civil Code, all personal property can be regarded as inheritance. This kind of positive general regulation of the law has actually greatly expanded the scope of inheritance, including all existing properties such as real rights, creditor's rights, intellectual property rights, equity, etc., and it is a new type of property rights that have appeared or may appear in the future, such as network virtual property rights. There is also enough space for data property rights.
On December 8, 2020, the official WeChat account of the Supreme People's Court announced the "Winner List of the 2020 National Court System Excellent Case Analysis and Selection Activity", which was hosted by the Supreme People's Court. Among them, "Li Shengyan, Brandon Smit v. Yan Xiangdong, Li Min, etc. Property Damage Compensation Dispute Case - The Legal Attributes of Bitcoin and Its Judicial Remedies" compiled by Judge Liu Jiang of Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court Among the 2,745 excellent case analyzes initially evaluated and selected by the Higher People’s Court, it stood out and was selected into the 2020 Excellent Cases of the National Court System.
Because when the Supreme People’s Court selects cases, the main considerations include the judgment results and the correct application of the law, the typicality and guidance of the case, the gist of the judgment and the writing of the case notes, etc. To some extent, this also means:
In the judgment of this case, the determination of the property attributes of bitcoin and the judicial relief for bitcoin-related cases have been recognized by the Supreme People's Court. It has had a profound impact on the trial practice of Bitcoin cases.
In addition, in the first case of bitcoin network infringement represented by the team of chain lawyers, the Hangzhou Internet Court identified the property attributes of bitcoin and discussed it in detail.
In its judgment, the court cited the protection of data and network virtual property in Chinese laws in the General Principles of Civil Law. In addition, the property attributes of Bitcoin are described in detail in terms of value, scarcity, and disposability. Right now:
The process of obtaining Bitcoin condenses human abstract labor—value;
The total amount of Bitcoin is constant at 21 million - scarcity;
Bitcoins can be owned, used, earned, disposed of—exclusively and disposablely.
secondary title
Does Bitcoin belong to the scope of "inheritance that can be inherited"?
Article 124 of the "Civil Code" stipulates: "Natural persons enjoy the right of inheritance according to law. The legal private property of natural persons may be inherited according to law."
The right of inheritance is an important civil right in the civil law of our country. The so-called right of inheritance refers to the right enjoyed by a natural person to inherit the estate of the deceased in accordance with the provisions of the law or the legally valid will made by the deceased, or the qualification to accept the estate of the deceased. When certain legal facts are met, the heir has de facto property rights to the estate left by the decedent. The realization of the right of inheritance begins when the decedent dies or is declared dead.
At the same time, Article 1122 of the Inheritance Section of the Civil Code stipulates: "Inheritance is the legal personal property left by a natural person when he dies. Inheritance that cannot be inherited according to the law or its nature cannot be inherited. That is: only individuals Only legal property can be inherited.
According to the interpretation of "Understanding and Application", the legal property referred to in this article means that the legal summary of inheritance must include the limitation of legality, and only legal property can be inherited as the legacy property of the heir during his lifetime. In short , property with legality can become an inheritance. If the so-called inheritance is obtained by the decedent through illegal means such as robbery, theft, fraud, etc., then these properties cannot be regarded as inheritance.
Bitcoins can be inherited.
Of course, in the blockchain world, mastering the private key and address also masters Bitcoin.
