In a groundbreaking verdict, the high court of Singapore officially acknowledged cryptocurrency as property that can be held in trust. This crucial ruling was made in a case involving Seychelles-based exchange Bybit and a contractor, as revealed in court documents published on July 25.
Bybit Fintech Limited filed a lawsuit against Ho Kai Xin, alleging that she had exploited her position by secretly transferring USDT to addresses that she owned and controlled, as well as transferring fiat currency to her personal bank account, which violated her employment contract.
As per the application, Bybit sought the return of the same or of its traceable proceeds or the payment of a sum equivalent in value.
After discovering unusual transactions, the exchange confronted the defendant, who initially attributed the payments to inadvertent mistakes or technical errors. However, later on, Ms. Ho accused her maternal cousin, Jason Teo, of stealing her personal identification, which made it impossible for her to access her accounts.
Judge Philip Jeyaretnam, who presided over the case, accepted the probabilities of “Jason not existing [or at any rate not playing the role asserted for him by Ms. Ho]” and granted Bybit summary judgment against Ms. Ho. The plaintiff was also awarded costs in the amount of $45k, along with disbursements of $11.5k.
Singapore Judge Refer MAS Consultation Paper On Digital Assets
In making his decision, the Singapore judge cited a recent consultation paper from the Monetary Authority of Singapore [MAS], in which the proposed amendments stated that it is practical to identify and separate such digital assets, supporting the idea that holding them in trust should be permitted by law.
Previously, a Hong Kong court recognized cryptocurrencies as property, stating that they are “capable of being held on trust.” As reported by TronWeekly, the case involved the now-defunct digital asset exchange Gatecoin, where the presiding judge, Linda Chan, determined that cryptocurrencies inherently possess all the characteristics of a property.
According to the article, Hong Kong’s ruling on digital assets aligned with several other common law jurisdictions. In January, an English High Court also recognized that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are considered property and can be subject to a proprietary injunction.