A Dutch court classifies Bitcoin as a “transferable value”, after it ruled in favor of a plaintiff who was owed 0.591 Bitcoins (BTC).
The claim was filed in a Dutch court by Mr. J.W. de Vries on 2nd February 2018 against Koinz Trading BV, a non-public company, which was previously ordered by a lower court of Midden-Nederland to pay mining proceeds in the amount of 0.591 BTC owed to the petitioner, or a penalty compensation up to a €10,000 maximum.
The private company’s failure to comply with its obligations to pay the required volume in BTC, will result in company either paying up or be declared bankrupt., according to court orders.
The court judgement explicitly states that Bitcoin qualifies as a “property right”, and hence a claim to transfer BTC under property rights is legitimate
“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 court also discovered an undisputed contract between the company and Mr. Vries, and because the undertaking was taken in BTC, the amount should also be paid back in the same currency. The court qualified this legal relationship as a civil obligation to pay.
The court took into account the article 1, 2, 4, 6 and 14 of the Bankruptcy Act, saying
“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. At the hearing, therefore, it appeared briefly that the applicant had a right of action, as well as facts and circumstances, which show that the applicant is in the position of having ceased to pay.”
The Dutch Court’s judgement on qualifying BTC as a legal and transferable asset has come as a ray of hope in the crypto news scenario where the Bitcoin price seems to have taken a fall.
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