Case amount exceeds 9.44 million yuan; cryptocurrency payments confirmed in two personal information crimes

Chinese prosecutors confirmed cryptocurrency payments in two personal-data crime cases with combined case amounts exceeding 9.44 million yuan, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Tuesday in releasing eight representative personal-information protection cases. In the first case, a ring of 11 people led by one surnamed Wang bought personal data abroad—including household registration, property status and movement records—and resold it in China, with case amounts exceeding 1.98 million yuan; the group collected payments from domestic buyers via online payment channels while paying overseas sellers in crypto. The second case, details of which were truncated in the release, also involved virtual-asset settlement. The disclosure signals growing prosecutorial attention to crypto's role in personal-data trafficking and cross-border settlement despite China's crypto trading ban. Watch for further case disclosures from the procuratorate and any follow-up guidance on virtual-asset payment channels in data-crime enforcement.