Today's Highlights
🌐 UK Court Determines PRC Law Applies to the Qian Zhimin Case: What Does This Mean for Chinese Investors?
🔎 French Lawmakers Back Stablecoin Conversion Tax by a Single Vote
📌 Kazakhstan Court Bars Coinbase and Five Other Platforms from Providing Unlicensed Crypto Services in the Astana International Financial Centre
📋 Swiss FINMA Approves First Domestic ETF Directly Investing in Bitcoin for Retail Investors and Exempts It from Certain Risk-Diversification Rules
📋 France Passes Bill Imposing 31.4% Capital Gains Tax on Bitcoin-to-Stablecoin Conversions
🧊 Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office Freezes an Additional THB 44 Million in Assets in Online Gambling Case
UK Court Determines PRC Law Applies to the Qian Zhimin Case: What Does This Mean for Chinese Investors?
On 12 October, the High Court of England and Wales issued a judgment in the civil recovery proceedings concerning the Bitcoin at issue in the Qian Zhimin money laundering case (case name: Director of Public Prosecutions v Qian and others), holding that whether the Chinese victims may assert rights over the more than 61,000 Bitcoin at issue should be determined under PRC law. The civil recovery proceedings were brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under Part 5 of the UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). Under section 281 of that Act, a person who claims that the property subject to recovery "belongs to" that person may apply to the court for a determination; as of the registration deadline of 22 May this year, approximately 16,000 Chinese victims had asserted claims through those proceedings. The judgment resolves only the preliminary issue of applicable law; English law continues to govern the procedure and statutory mechanisms of civil recovery. The presiding judge, Turner J, also expressed views on tracing under POCA. The article considers that summarizing the judgment as "the UK court has determined that the value of Bitcoin is to be calculated under PRC law" is inaccurate: the proprietary nature of Bitcoin and the question of who legally owns this particular Bitcoin are two distinct issues.
Business Impact
This judgment determines only the governing law. It does not confirm that the Chinese victims hold property rights over the Bitcoin at issue, nor does it alter English law's control over the recovery proceedings. For the approximately 16,000 Chinese investors participating in the UK recovery proceedings, whether they can go beyond seeking restitution of their investment funds to assert that the Bitcoin, or a portion of it, belongs to them depends on the specific arguments made under PRC law. The direct consequence may be that they recover only the RMB principal and possibly interest, making it difficult for them to share in Bitcoin's subsequent appreciation. Entities intending to assert claims in the UK proceedings should prepare evidence and arguments concerning the basis of property rights over specific Bitcoin under PRC law, rather than relying on tracing rules under English law.
Source: Wu Blockchain · 2026/10/20 18:16
French lawmakers back taxation of stablecoin conversions by a single vote
French lawmakers passed an amendment by a majority of just one vote that would, from 2027, tax the conversion of crypto assets into euro- or US dollar-denominated stablecoins, calculating gains on a currency-by-currency, transaction-by-transaction basis. The amendment is currently at the parliamentary review stage and has not yet become law in force.
Business impact
If the amendment ultimately enters into force, converting crypto assets into euro- or US dollar-denominated stablecoins in France would be treated as a taxable disposal, with gains calculated on a currency-by-currency, transaction-by-transaction basis, and users who frequently rebalance between stablecoins and crypto assets may thereby incur tax obligations. Teams that issue, process payments in or distribute stablecoins need to determine whether their business falls within this conversion step and whether the jurisdictions in which their users are located would change the transaction structure as a result. Until the amendment completes the legislative process, it cannot yet be concluded that a new tax obligation has arisen on this basis.
Source: Decrypt · 2026/10/20 22:04
Kazakhstan court bars Coinbase and five other platforms from providing unlicensed crypto services in the Astana International Financial Centre
A court in Kazakhstan has issued an injunction against Coinbase and five other crypto platforms, restricting them from providing unlicensed crypto services within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). The scope of the injunction is strictly limited to users within the AIFC and does not extend to other parts of Kazakhstan. The available materials do not disclose the specific court that issued the injunction, the date of the ruling, the full list of prohibited platforms or the period for which the injunction remains in effect.
Business impact
The injunction places the licensing requirement within the specific jurisdiction of the AIFC rather than across all of Kazakhstan; therefore, for trading platforms that have entities in the AIFC or provide services to clients within the AIFC, their scope of services and local licensing status directly determine whether they fall within the injunction. For businesses serving only users in Kazakhstan outside the AIFC, the injunction itself does not constitute a direct restriction, but platforms still need to distinguish between client location and access nodes to avoid providing unlicensed services to AIFC users on a cross-border basis.
Source: CoinDesk · 2026/10/20 21:35
Swiss FINMA approves first domestic ETF for retail investors that invests directly in Bitcoin, and exempts it from certain risk-diversification rules
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) announced on 20 October that it had for the first time approved an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for retail investors that invests directly in Bitcoin. Under Swiss law, the product is classified as an alternative investment fund with specific risks. FINMA stated that, given Bitcoin's longer trading history and higher trading volume compared with other cryptocurrencies, it approved the fund's exemption from certain risk-diversification rules, while requiring the regulated institution to take measures to reduce operational and asset-custody risks and to clearly disclose in the fund documents the risks of Bitcoin price volatility and potential losses. The sale of the product must comply with the conduct rules under the Swiss Financial Services Act (FinSA), including investment appropriateness and suitability assessments. FINMA noted that other fund providers have also submitted, or announced plans to submit, applications for Bitcoin ETFs. Other developments on the same day included: BlackRock submitted an application for a buffer Bitcoin ETF with the ticker PBIT, intended to provide a degree of downside protection while capping some upside gains; Lido engineering lead Dima Gusakov warned of a possible staking deposit hijacking risk during Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade, with the relevant consensus-specification fix proposal closed as "not planned", no actual loss of funds has been reported, Glamsterdam is scheduled to activate on the Hoodi testnet on 26 October, and the mainnet launch date has not yet been determined; Bitwise reported that Ethereum staking reached 43.8 million ETH, representing 35.9% of total supply; Revolut experienced a widespread service outage, with some users unable to log in to the app, transfer funds or pay with bank cards in physical stores.
Business impact
FINMA's approval brings Bitcoin ETFs within the Swiss regulatory framework for alternative investment funds; the exemption is limited to the risk-diversification rule, while operational and custody risk mitigation, disclosure of price volatility and losses in the fund documents, and the appropriateness and suitability assessments under FinSA remain mandatory conditions for issuance and distribution. Institutions intending to issue crypto ETFs to retail investors in Switzerland must, following this precedent, prepare product classification, custody arrangements and sales-conduct processes, and must not interpret the risk-diversification exemption as a relaxation of the overall regulatory requirements. Other providers have already submitted or announced applications, indicating that the approval pathway is open, but each product must still pass review individually.
Source: Wu Blockchain · 2026/10/20 21:33
France passes bill imposing 31.4% capital gains tax on Bitcoin-to-stablecoin conversions
France narrowly passed a cryptocurrency tax amendment that would, from January 2027, impose a 31.4% capital gains tax on transactions converting crypto assets into stablecoins. The amendment is not yet in force and still requires approval by the French Senate and passage through the budget reconciliation process before it can formally become law. The available materials do not disclose the specific provisions of the amendment, the method for calculating the applicable tax base, or the exact vote count.
Business impact
The amendment targets the disposal step of converting crypto assets into stablecoins. Once in force, individuals or entities in France holding crypto assets and converting them into stablecoins will bear tax at 31.4% on the relevant gains, rather than incurring a tax liability only upon sale for fiat currency. Issuance, payment and trading arrangements that use stablecoins as a settlement or parking vehicle for funds need to factor this conversion step into their costs and reporting processes. Because Senate review and budget reconciliation are not yet complete, the tax rate, effective date and scope of application may still change, and the tax treatment currently in force should not be modified on this basis at this stage.
Source: ChainCatcher · 2026/10/20 20:57
Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office freezes an additional THB 44 million in assets in online gambling case
Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) announced on October 20 that it had frozen additional assets in the case involving "Chananaphat Naksua (ชนนพัฒฐ์ นาคสั้ว) and others" concerning gambling through electronic channels. The newly frozen assets are funds and digital assets in digital asset trading accounts, valued at approximately THB 44 million. The measure is an asset-freezing procedure taken by the AMLO in the course of handling the case; the announcement did not state whether the persons involved have been charged or the specific judicial stage of the case. The available materials are an excerpt, and the complete facts of the case and subsequent handling remain to be supplemented.
Business impact
The AMLO's direct freezing, under anti-money-laundering procedures, of funds and assets in digital asset trading accounts means that service providers in Thailand that provide accounts, custody or trade matching for the entities involved may be unable to execute clients' withdrawal or transfer instructions because the accounts fall within the scope of the freeze. Service providers need to determine whether their own clients or accounts fall within this freeze list and, on that basis, handle their contractual performance and client-notification obligations; before the details of the list and the freezing order are made public, it should not be presumed that all accounts related to gambling through electronic channels have been frozen.
Source: Thai Chinese News · 2026/10/20 19:34
This daily briefing is compiled with AI assistance based on publicly available information and is provided for reference only. It does not constitute legal advice or recommendations.
