When a virtual asset transfer appears in a case, legal professionals are often confronted with more than simply "where the money went from and where it went to."
How do on-chain addresses correspond to real-world entities? Can transaction hashes, wallet addresses and block explorer records form a complete chain of evidence? How do platform accounts, chat records and on-chain fund flows corroborate one another? How are the virtual assets involved in a case recovered, returned and disposed of? And how might a smart contract affect the facts of a transaction, the manner of performance and the assessment of liability?
As virtual assets, blockchain and Web3 gradually enter different legal contexts—criminal, civil, administrative and corporate compliance—traditional approaches to handling cases are beginning to face an increasing number of new issues.
Recently, the Virtual Asset Case Handling Manual, planned by the Mofa team, officially launched its co-creation initiative,and is now recruiting professionals—including judges, prosecutors, police officers, lawyers and arbitrators—who have long been engaged in virtual asset, blockchain and Web3 legal practice.
Shanghai Mankun(Shenzhen) Law Firm partner Deng Xiaoyu participated in the compilation of this book.
Why is a virtual asset case handling manual needed?
Over the past few years, cases involving virtual assets have continued to enter judicial practice.
Compared with traditional cases, such cases often involve technology, law, financial regulation and cross-border issues at the same time. From wallet addresses, private keys, public keys and transaction hashes to exchange accounts, smart contracts and on-chain fund flows, without an understanding of basic on-chain logic it is very difficult to truly reconstruct the transaction process, and this may directly affect the subsequent review of evidence and legal determinations.
On the other hand, the relevant rules are also changing rapidly.
In February 2026, the Notice on Further Preventing and Addressing Risks Associated with Virtual Assets and Related Matters (Yin Fa [2026] No. 42) was issued, further clarifying the regulatory requirements for virtual assets, tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) and related business activities.
However, in specific cases, issues such as the property attributes of virtual assets, the validity of contracts, the boundaries of criminal liability, the determination of on-chain evidence, the disposal of assets involved in cases, and the cross-border application of law still require case-specific analysis in light of different factual circumstances, legal provisions, and judicial practice.
For those handling cases, what is often genuinely lacking is not another article explaining "what virtual assets are," but rather a set of practical tools that can be applied to specific cases and resolve specific problems.
The Virtual Assets Case Handling Manual was initiated against this backdrop.
Starting from real cases and drawing on frontline practical experience
Virtual asset cases are inherently interdisciplinary in nature.
Criminal cases may simultaneously involve different charges such as fraud, money laundering, illegal fundraising, organizing and leading pyramid schemes, operating gambling establishments, and illegal business operations; civil cases may involve contract validity, entrusted investment, lending, return of property, tort compensation, and cross-border disputes; enterprises and project parties may also face compliance issues such as anti-money laundering, cross-border operations, token issuance, platform business, and regulatory investigations.
Accordingly, this manual adopts a "co-creation" approach, aiming to bring together frontline practical experience from different legal professions and different practice areas.
At present, a number of legal practitioners, including prosecutors and lawyers, have confirmed their participation in the creation of this book, including Cheng Rui, Liu Zhengyao, Deng Xiaoyu, Zeng Haishan, and others.
Mankun partner Lawyer Deng Xiaoyu participated in the compilation
Deng Xiaoyu is a partner at Mankun Law Firm (Shenzhen).
He primarily practices in criminal defense, modification and execution of criminal penalties, and Web3 legal services, with business involving blockchain, crypto assets, overseas asset unfreezing, and handling of Interpol Red Notices, among other areas.
Lawyer Deng Xiaoyu has long been involved in handling criminal cases involving virtual assets in mainland China, has provided criminal defense and legal services to well-known domestic and overseas crypto exchanges and related practitioners, and continuously tracks changes in virtual asset regulation and judicial practice in mainland China.
He has been interviewed and commissioned to write by media outlets including Yicai, Shenzhen News, Jiemian News and Ta Kung Pao, and participated in planning and lecturing for the Cryptocurrency Criminal Practice Training Camp, sharing professional insights on the characterization, evidence, defense and practical handling of criminal cases involving virtual currency.
In participating in the compilation of the Virtual Currency Case Handling Manual, he also hopes to further systematize the experience gained from long-term frontline case handling, so as to provide more referenceable and actionable experience for practical research on cases involving virtual currency.
What content is the book planned to cover?
At present, the Virtual Currency Case Handling Manual is planned to be organized around four main sections.
Criminal Law Section
Focusing on the characterization and defense of cases involving virtual currency fraud, money laundering, illegal fundraising, pyramid selling and operating casinos, as well as practical issues such as the extraction, preservation and cross-examination of on-chain evidence, and the recovery, return and disposal of virtual assets involved in cases.
Civil Law Section
Discussing issues such as the validity of contracts involving virtual currency, disputes over entrusted investment and lending, disputes over new types of digital assets such as NFTs and DeFi, performance of smart contracts, and compensation for damage to virtual property.
Administrative and Regulatory Section
Addressing regulatory rules for virtual currency and related businesses, responses to administrative investigations and enforcement, and compliance topics such as anti-money laundering and risk control.
Non-litigation and Cross-border Compliance Section
Focusing on issues such as Web3 corporate structure, cross-border operations, legal risks related to token issuance, DAO governance and multi-jurisdictional compliance.
Ultimately, the aim is to answer the most practical questions that arise in the course of handling cases:
How should on-chain data be preserved and submitted?
How can an evidentiary link be established between a wallet address and a real-world entity?
In virtual currency contract disputes, how will courts determine the nature of the transaction and the validity of the contract?
In criminal cases involving virtual currency, where do the logic of conviction and the room for defense lie?
How should the boundaries of liability for platforms, project teams and industry practitioners be determined?
How should virtual currency involved in a case be recovered, returned and disposed of in a compliant manner?
These questions have no standard answers divorced from specific cases; they require the accumulation of experience from frontline practice.
Recruitment of Co-Creators
This book is now open to co-creation by professionals with practical legal experience in virtual currency, blockchain and Web3.
Who We Are Recruiting
- Legal practitioners such as lawyers, police officers, prosecutors, judges and arbitrators
- In principle, at least 3 years of practical legal experience related to Web3, blockchain or virtual assets
- Some practical experience in relevant fields such as criminal, civil, administrative regulation, corporate compliance and cross-border business
- Candidates with professional articles, case studies or long-term writing experience are preferred
This recruitment plan
3 cover authors | 6 editors
Selected authors will participate in the creation of relevant chapters according to the book's table of contents and specific division of work, jointly completing the systematic compilation of cases, rules and practical experience.
How to participate?
Legal practitioners interested in co-creating this book may scan the QR code at the end of this article to add the Mofa team's contact details, and note:"Web3 Co-creation"
Under the co-creation plan, applicants may, based on the proposed table of contents or their own professional direction, submit a 3,000 to 5,000-word practical sample within two weeks; the Mofa team will further discuss specific creation arrangements after review.
Specific cooperation mechanisms such as fees, manuscript remuneration and royalties shall be subject to subsequent communication and the final agreement with the Mofa team.
Contact phone number
15877136248
Application Notes
Web3 Co-creation
Once virtual currency enters judicial practice, the truly difficult task has never been memorizing a few new technical terms, but rather how to transform facts occurring in the on-chain world into evidence and rules that the law can recognize, examine and adjudicate.
A truly valuable handbook on handling virtual currency cases should not merely explain concepts; it should derive from real cases, real disputes and real practice experience.
We look forward to more legal practitioners who have long been on the front lines joining us to record together these experiences that are still taking shape.
This article is compiled based on relevant information from the Mofa Team's "Co-creation Recruitment for Publication of the "; the specific recruitment arrangements shall be subject to the Mofa Team's final notice.
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*This article is an original article ofMankun Law Firmand represents only the personal views of the author of this article; it does not constitute legal consultation or legal advice on any specific matter. For reprinting and legal consultation, please add customer service:mankunlawyer。
