A man was defrauded of renting a server for mining for RMB 1.65 million. The court ruled that the contract was invalid and ordered the defendant to r

The Intermediate People's Court of Changsha City, Hunan Province, has released a typical case of environmental resources trial involving virtual currency "mining". According to reports, the plaintiff Luo signed three "server equipment and software system purchasing service contracts" with the defendant Hunan Company on May 7, 8 and 18, 2021 respectively. The contract stipulates that the defendant company will provide Luo with five servers, with a total purchase price of 1.65 million yuan; the defendant company promises that the "mining" income will not be lower than the average level of the whole network, and if there is a penalty for coins due to technical problems, the company will bear the corresponding losses. After the contract was signed, Luo paid 1.65 million yuan in installments to the actual owner Fan of Hunan Company as required by the contract. Later, Fan and his company did not deliver the server equipment and software system to Luo, nor did they obtain any promised investment income from Fan and his company. Luo sued the court to request the cancellation of the contract and compensation for losses.

The Tianxin District Court of Changsha City determined that the contract signed by the plaintiff and defendant was invalid due to violation of public order and good customs. Considering that both parties were at fault for the invalidity of the contract involved in the case, the loss should be borne by both parties, with each party bearing 30,000 yuan. Hunan Company, the defendant, has received 1.65 million yuan from the plaintiff and should return 1.62 million yuan to the plaintiff; Fan, the defendant, shall bear joint and several liability for the payment obligation of Hunan Company under his name; and Luo's other claims were dismissed. The defendant appealed, but the Changsha Intermediate Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original verdict.

The Changsha Intermediate Court analyzed that in this case, the purchasing service contract signed by the plaintiff and defendant was to purchase "mining machines" and entrust them to operate to obtain virtual currency and profit. Such activities affect the country's environmental protection, financial security and other social basic order, violate public order and good customs, and do not meet the requirements of new productive forces. From the perspective of the effectiveness of civil legal acts, the contract involved in the case should be denied evaluation and deemed invalid.