The People’s Court of China has ruled that stablecoins such as USDT cannot be used by employers for wages and any rewards.
Despite the fact that all types of cryptocurrency transactions are illegal in China, some national companies still use virtual currencies to pay their employees.
The reason for the legal proceedings was the appeal of an employee of the blockchain company, who accused his employer of refusing to pay wages in fiat yuan. According to the plaintiff, instead of paying in national currency, the company paid salaries and bonuses in USDT stablecoins.
The court upheld the claim and ordered the employer to pay more than 270,000 yuan ($40,000) in fiat currency due to the plaintiff.
In addition, the court ruled that virtual currencies such as USDT cannot be traded on the market and that all employers are required to pay employees cash remuneration exclusively in the country’s official currency, the yuan (RMB).
The ban on cryptocurrencies in China did nothing to accelerate the pace of certification of new blockchain services. According to a survey by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the total number of such projects registered by the country’s Internet regulator has reached 1,821.