A British court made a case law recognizing Bitcoin as property

The British court for the first time in history recognized Bitcoin as a property, writes Decrypt portal. The decision was taken as part of the hacking trial, is interim and requires ratification. However, it is unique to the 800-year-old judicial system and can simplify the process of obtaining cryptocurrencies with stock exchanges victims of attacks.

Liam Robertson, CEO of Alphabit's $195 million fund, said he lost $1 million in Bitcoin last month due to the actions of cybercriminals. The London Court of Economic Affairs has issued an order for the preservation of assets, according to which the Coinbase stock exchange was to temporarily freeze the stolen funds.

British legislation considers Bitcoin to be "data", i.e. the owners of the cryptocurrency cannot demand its return in case of theft. Robertson's lawyers, however, were able to outline the situation for the judge from another side. Since the theft of the Bitcoins did not constitute a transfer of ownership, Robertson remained the legal owner of the cryptocurrency.

"If someone finds themselves in such a situation, they will be able to point to our case and say: "Judge, look, we're not asking you to do anything, we've never done anything before. There is a solution in the case of Robertson against unknown persons," said the plaintiff's lawyers.

The situation began to develop in early July, when Robertson talked on the phone with the head of the algorithmic fund and under the impression of the proposed product agreed to give him more than 100 bitcoins. According to the plaintiff, the phone call was tapped by an unknown person who, upon learning of the Bitcoin transfer plan, sent him an e-mail on behalf of the fund's investment director, indicating the address of his cryptocurrency wallet.

By the time the next day it became known about the problem, 80 Bitcoins Robertson went to the Coinbase wallet, 15 Bitcoins to the LocalBitcoins platform, 5 Bitcoins to another wallet.

Robertson said he managed to get his assets from Coinbase on Tuesday. The hacker himself returned the cryptocurrency under the pressure of the ongoing proceedings. Similarly, they intend to try to return the rest of the funds, but this may be more difficult as it is on over-the-counter wallets. Otherwise, they will have to identify the owner of the wallet and obtain the cryptocurrency in accordance with the court decision, going through a lengthy and costly procedure.

The English courts are showing that they are willing to work with new cases of this type," said Robertson's lawyer. - They've sent the right message: if you get into such a situation, the judges at the High Court are really well prepared to deal with the problems.

The court is currently awaiting the advice of the jurisdiction working group to decide whether or not Bitcoin should be recognized as property. The result is expected to be known before the end of the summer.

Earlier, it was reported that a court in China recognized Bitcoin as "virtual property" protected by law.