Singapore High Court Declares Cryptocurrency as Property that Can Be Held in Trust
A recent ruling by Judge Philip Jeyaretnam of the High Court of Singapore surprised the crypto community, as the judge declared that digital currencies are not different than fiat money.
The ruling took place on July 25th, and the judge decided that crypto is a form of property eligible for trust status.
The judge’s stance contradicts the common skepticism toward cryptocurrencies, shared by most governments, financial institutions, and financial regulators, who have been claiming that digital assets lack “real” value for years.
Judge Jeyaretnam, however, believes that cryptocurrencies and fiat money are not that different.
He compared both to physical objects, such as shells, making a point that any object can hold value from the mutual faith vested in them.
The judge believes that the value of an object comes from the collective human perception of that object.
In other words, if people believe that it has value, then it has value based on that alone.
His ruling came in response to a case brought by Bybit, which filed a lawsuit against a former employee, Ho Kai Xin.
According to Bybit, the former worker transferred 4.2 million USDT, each of which holds the value of $1, from the exchange’s wallet to her private account.
As part of the ruling, Ho was ordered to give back the money to the exchange.
However, she said that the relevant account was not controlled by her, but by a cousin, who was not present during the trial.
For the most part, the ruling seems rather straightforward at first glance. However, it carries a deeper implication regarding the legal status of crypto assets.
The judge categorized the stolen stablecoins as property, extending the same classification to other digital currencies. The classification comes
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