coindesk.com
Thailand’s Supreme Court ruled that bitcoin $BTC$80,049.93 qualifies as property in a robbery case, rejecting a defendant’s argument that the cryptocurrency had no value of its own.
The case involved a victim forced to exchange $50,000 for about 2.48 $BTC and transfer it to attackers on the island of Koh Samui in September 2022, according to local news outlet Thaiger. At the time, bitcoin was priced around $20,000.
The dispute turned on whether the cryptocurrency could count as the property taken in a robbery. The court found that converting the victim’s money into bitcoin did not remove its value or prevent it from being property.
In a summary, the court said its plenary bench concluded that bitcoin has a market price, can be exchanged for cash when a buyer is available and can be held by members of the public.
“The value of the money transferred as property therefore fulfills the elements of an offense against property,” the court said, according to a translation of the Thai-language summary.
The judges cited Thailand’s 2018 digital asset business decree, which defines cryptocurrency as electronic data created on a network for use as a medium of exchange.
The court also considered a Bank of Thailand letter stating that cryptocurrency is not legal tender. That status did not prevent bitcoin from qualifying as property in the criminal case.
According to local news outlet Bitcoin Addict, the attackers confronted the victim and his wife at a coffee shop, threatened the family’s safety and assaulted him before forcing the transfer. The defendant helped arrange transport and accommodation for the group.
The Supreme Court upheld a 10-year prison sentence, the outlet reported. The trial court had imposed 15 years before reducing the term by a third because evidence the defendant provided was useful to the proceedings. The lower court also ordered the bitcoin returned to the victim.
