Is virtual currency illegal?

Illegal. Suspected of organizing and leading pyramid schemes. The following are pyramid schemes:

(1) The organizer or operator, through the development of personnel, requires the developed personnel to develop other personnel to join, and calculates and pays remuneration to the developed personnel based on the number of personnel that have been directly or indirectly developed, so as to seek illegal benefits; Organizers or business operators, through the development of personnel, require the developed personnel to pay fees or pay fees in disguised form by subscribing for goods. , and obtain the qualification to join or develop other personnel to join, and seek illegal interests. Weavers or business operators, through the development of personnel, require the developed personnel to develop other personnel to join. It is not illegal to calculate and pay remuneration to developers on the basis of the number of people directly or indirectly developed, and to seek illegal benefits in virtual currency transactions. Virtual currency is not issued by monetary authorities, has no monetary attributes such as legal compensation and compulsion, is not a real currency, has no legal status equivalent to currency, cannot and should not be circulated in the market as currency, and citizens' investment and transactions in virtual currency are not protected by law. Virtual currency in the market mainly includes:

1, a game currency developed by game operators and used by players as a trading medium in online games;

2. Special virtual currency issued by portal websites or instant messaging tools for this operation of cyberspace;

3. Interactive virtual currency that can be used by the issuer of virtual currency or purchased from non-issuers;

4. Based on cryptography and modern network P2P technology, a special electronic and digital network encryption currency is generated through complex mathematical algorithms.

If the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention, and shall also or solely be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal income; If the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years, and shall be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal income, or the special electronic and digital network encrypted currency generated by complex mathematical algorithms from cryptography and modern network P2P technology shall be confiscated.

Legal basis: Article 7 of MLM Regulations on Prohibiting MLM, the following acts belong to MLM:

(1) The organizer or operator, through the development of personnel, requires the developed personnel to develop other personnel to join, and calculates and pays remuneration to the developed personnel based on the number of personnel that have been directly or indirectly developed, so as to seek illegal benefits;

(2) Organizers or business operators require the developed personnel to pay or pay in disguised form by means of subscribing for commodities through the development personnel. , so as to obtain the qualification to join or develop other personnel to join, and seek illegal interests.