The latest judgment coming from a Dutch court calls Bitcoin to be a legitimate “transferable value” which are some very positive words towards the mainstream adoption of the cryptocurrencies. The ruling was announced in favour of a petitioner – Mr. JW de Vries who was owed 0.591 BTC from a private company – Koinz Trading BV.
The court also found the existence of an undisputed contract between the company and Mr. Vries. Moreover, as the undertaking was done in BTC, hence the payment was liable to make the payment in the digital currency. Hence the court order that the company is obliged to pay to Mr. Vries while sighting article 1, 2, 4, 6 and 14 of the Bankruptcy Act.
It stated that: “It is undisputed that it is clear that the claim that the applicant has seized has not been paid by the plaintiff. At the hearing, the applicant demonstrated the existence of several (aid) claims. From the documents submitted by the applicant, it appears that several persons have claims on the vested party that see the payment of Bitcoin or on claims for non-fulfillment of obligations under an agreement, with penalties attached in some cases.”
The company which has failed to pay the required amount in BTC has now been told by the court to either clear the dues or declare itself to be bankrupt. The court judgment states the digital currency ‘Bitcoin’ has got all the features of a property right and hence the claim to transfer BTC within the property rights is valid enough.
The translation of the court’s document reads: “Bitcoin exists, according to the court, from a unique, digitally encrypted series of numbers and letters stored on the hard drive of the right-holder’s computer. Bitcoin is ‘delivered’ by sending bitcoins from one wallet to another wallet. Bitcoins are stand-alone value files, which are delivered directly to the payee by the payer in the event of a payment. It follows that a Bitcoin represents a value and is transferable. In the court’s view, it thus shows characteristics of a property right. A claim for payment in Bitcoin is, therefore, to be regarded as a claim that qualifies for verification.”
The European Union has, in general, maintained a positive stand on cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month during the G20 summit, the global financial watchdog the Financial Stability Board (FSB) made an announcement that Bitcoin can be considered as an asset and don’t pose much threat to the financial system, currently.
It stated: “The FSB’s initial assessment is that crypto-assets do not pose risks to global financial stability at this time. The market continues to evolve rapidly, however, and this initial assessment could change if crypto-assets were to become significantly more widely used or interconnected with the core of the regulated financial system.”
