Hebei Higher Court: In a case involving over 15 million yuan, a man was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for illegal fundraising under the guise of the "metaverse" concept

Odaily Planet Daily News: The Hebei Higher Court released typical cases of combating illegal fundraising. A man packaged investment projects with the "metaverse" concept, promoting virtual commodity investment projects under the "Newmateworks" platform of the "Yishang United Community" to the public, inducing the public to participate in investments. He directly introduced 19 investors who invested 15.3936 million yuan into the platform, of which 1.1014 million yuan was returned, leaving 14.2922 million yuan unrepaid. The court trial held that this case used emerging technology concepts such as the "metaverse" as a cover to carry out deceptive marketing. This violated national financial management laws and regulations, involved a huge amount, and constituted the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. Chen was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and fined.