A Chinese court recognized Bitcoin and USDT as virtual assets with property value in a ruling that could shape digital asset law across the country. It acknowledged that while Bitcoin and USDT don’t function as currency under Chinese law, they carry sufficient economic significance to serve as the basis for extortion charges. For prosecutors to secure an extortion conviction, they needed to establish that the demands had quantifiable monetary value. The country was once home to the majority of Bitcoin mining operations globally and hosted some of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. No zero-day exploit was needed, no supply chain compromise, just a financially stressed employee with database credentials and a cryptocurrency wallet address.