The People's Court of Pingjiang County in Hunan Province has classified futures trading on the BKEX exchange as gambling. Several exchange employees and external promoters were convicted as accomplices in the crime of opening a casino, although most of the sentences were suspended. The court determined that the trading model on BKEX encouraged speculation on Bitcoin and Ethereum price movements with leverage as high as 1,000 times. The exchange had over 270,000 users participating in contract trading, generating a net profit of over $54.7 million. The ruling aligns with China's crackdown on risky cryptocurrency activities but highlights the complexity of the country's regulatory approach to digital assets. The decision to categorize crypto futures trading as gambling could have broad implications for the industry, possibly driving platforms underground or overseas.



Other News from Today