Three people have been convicted and sentenced to prison for their involvement in laundering about $87 million worth of cryptocurrencies through the digital yuan in China . The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court handed down the convictions on Tuesday, saying two of the defendants actively solicited cryptocurrency transactions on behalf of a criminal organization, while a third party served as an important conduit for laundering digital assets.

Consequences

The defendants were also ordered to pay fines totaling $7.4 million, although courts in China have sometimes had difficulty enforcing such penalties in the past. In addition to prison sentences, the two main defendants will be monitored for three years after their release, during which time they will be banned from engaging in any activities related to digital currencies.

The case was one of the first public rulings on cryptocurrency laundering related to the digital yuan, which has been gradually introduced since its debut pilot launch in late 2019. Since the central bank began developing the CBDC, courts in China have increasingly ruled on several digital yuan-related crimes, mainly targeting users' e-wallets and the illegal issuance of digital currency.

Last week, The Beijing News reported that Chinese police uncovered a digital yuan robbery in which a man allegedly stole $7.4 million worth of CBDC from a cryptocurrency investor by obtaining his personal information and faking a robbery to mislead the victim. According to the report, the suspect was turned in by his father and the stolen assets were returned in the form of digital currency issued by the central bank (CBDC).

Digital yuan

The Chinese digital yuan is one of the central bank's most advanced digital currency projects (CBDC). The country's central bank claims that the digital yuan has mostly had a positive impact on the domestic financial sector and that the development of the project will continue despite any concerns.

However, use of the currency is still limited and recent reports suggest that the digital yuan may not be ready for widespread adoption anytime soon, despite its promotion at various events, including the Winter Olympics in Beijing earlier this year.