A virtual currency investment project that "earns money while playing" was actually a pyramid scheme, and four members of the project team were sentenced

PANews reported on September 2nd that according to Justice Net, a virtual currency touted as a "play and earn" and "deflationary appreciation" scheme attracted significant capital in a short period of time, recruiting dozens of members across three tiers. Following prosecution by the Shishi City Procuratorate in Fujian Province, the court issued a first-instance verdict against the key members of the pyramid scheme. Four suspects were convicted of organizing and leading a pyramid scheme and received prison sentences and fines. The defendants appealed the verdict. In July 2025, the court of second instance dismissed the appeal and upheld the original verdict.

The court reviewed and determined that although the organization used emerging concepts such as virtual currency and NFT to package itself, its operating model still met the requirements of the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes as stipulated in the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: First, the project set up a disguised "threshold fee" by purchasing virtual currency, participating in private placements and paying virtual assets, as a prerequisite for joining and developing others; second, it established a clear superior-subordinate relationship and hierarchical structure, and used the number of people developed and the performance of subordinates as the basis for remuneration and rebates; third, it had no real business activities and sustainable sources of income, and its capital operation relied on the funds of later members to pay for previous income, which had obvious characteristics of defrauding property.