China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has signaled a broader initiative to standardize how digital economy disputes are adjudicated, with new research focused on rulings for virtual currencies and cross-border finance. The move aims to produce clearer judicial guidelines that can handle a rising tide of crypto- and AI-related cases, according to Liu Guixiang, a member of the SPC Judicial Committee. He told Yicai that the court would study adjudication rules for these evolving areas and, as soon as possible, formulate interpretations governing civil compensation in cases such as insider trading and market manipulation.

In addition to crypto and cross-border finance, the SPC outlined plans to examine judicial protections for artificial intelligence cases and data property rights—encompassing disputes over data ownership, data transactions, and AI-generated content. The overarching forecast is to build internal standards that bring greater consistency to a growing slate of digital economy disputes in China, potentially shaping how crypto-related IP and liability are addressed in Chinese courts.

The timing of the comments aligns with a broader enforcement and policy backdrop that has long defined China’s approach to digital assets and related technologies. The same period has seen high-profile cross-border legal activity and a tightening stance on digital assets within and beyond the mainland, underscoring the stakes for investors, developers, and users navigating China’s evolving regulatory terrain.

Key takeaways

• The SPC plans to draft judicial interpretations on civil compensation in insider trading and market manipulation tied to crypto activity, signaling a move toward clearer liability standards for crypto cases in China.
• New research will also cover AI-related disputes and data property rights, potentially shaping how ownership and licensing of data and AI-generated content are treated in court.
• China’s longstanding crypto stance remains restrictive, with a history of bans on crypto transactions, mining, and related activities, even as the country advances its CBDC program.
• Regulatory developments are accompanied by high-profile enforcement activity abroad, including cross-border cases linked to crypto operators and the use of crypto to facilitate illicit schemes.
• Observers should monitor the SPC’s forthcoming judicial interpretations for crypto and AI IP rights, which could influence both legal risk and market behavior in China’s digital economy.

China’s judicial push tallies with a cautious crypto policy backdrop

China’s relationship with cryptocurrency has been cautious and often forbidding. Since 2013, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has barred financial institutions from providing Bitcoin-related services and has declined to recognize Bitcoin as a currency. This stance hardened in 2021 when a coordinated set of regulators, including the PBOC and securities authorities, issued a blanket ban on all crypto transactions, as well as Bitcoin mining and ICO activities within the country.

Further tightening followed in February, when the PBOC prohibited the issuance of unauthorized offshore yuan-pegged stablecoins and the unapproved tokenization of real-world assets. The move reflected a broader emphasis on maintaining monetary sovereignty and limiting financial experimentation outside state channels. The country’s trajectory toward a centralized, state-controlled digital fiat system has continued to influence how Chinese policymakers balance innovation with regulation.

Amid these regulatory headwinds, China has steadily advanced its own digital currency framework. The country is actively developing the digital yuan, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) managed by state authorities. This CBDC initiative is frequently cited as the centerpiece of China’s digital money strategy, positioning the digital yuan as a replacement or complement to traditional stablecoins as the regime’s preferred vehicle for digital payments and financial inclusion.

Enforcement signals and the broader policy environment

The SPC’s remarks come on the heels of ongoing cross-border enforcement activity that underscores the global dimension of crypto-related risk. In recent months, U.S. authorities pursued cases involving alleged crypto-linked schemes with ties to illicit operations. Notably, the U.S. Department of Justice seized about $15 billion worth of Bitcoin from a Chinese-linked operator in connection with a major investigation that has continued to unfold in the public record. Separately, a prominent Chinese-born executive associated with a regional business group faced arrest abroad and subsequent extradition to China on charges linked to operating illicit financial schemes. These enforcement actions highlight the intensifying cross-border cooperation and the reputational and financial risks that accompany crypto-related activity for multinational actors.

For investors and builders, the juxtaposition of stricter domestic adjudication standards and aggressive international enforcement signals a need for caution and precision. Clarity from the SPC could reduce ambiguity in civil litigation over crypto disputes, making it easier for market participants to assess risk, allocate liability, and determine remedies. At the same time, the broader push for CBDC development and the continued prohibition of unauthorized crypto activities suggest that China’s regulatory environment will remain bifurcated—supportive of technological advancement within a tightly controlled financial ecosystem, while restricting broader use of decentralized or offshore crypto instruments.

What readers should watch next

The central question in the near term is how the SPC will translate its research into concrete judicial interpretations. The timing of those guidelines could influence transactional risk, enforcement priorities, and the strategic decisions of firms operating in or with China’s digital economy. Observers should also monitor whether the ongoing cadence of cross-border enforcement actions or the CBDC push will shape a more predictable or more restrictive environment for crypto and AI-related activities in China. As the SPC moves from study to interpretable rules, the practical impact on disputes, compensation standards, and IP rights in crypto and AI will emerge more clearly.

Key Highlights

• Firefly Aerospace (FLY) shares surged 18.81% on Tuesday, reaching $58.81
• The company secured a $75 million NASA subcontract for the MoonFall mission
• Mission involves transporting four drones to the lunar south pole via Elytra spacecraft
• Scheduled launch window set for 2028 as part of NASA’s Moon Base program
• Elytra will complete a 45-day journey before releasing drones 50km above the south pole

Shares of Firefly Aerospace (FLY) climbed 18.81% to finish at $58.81 on Tuesday following the announcement of a $75 million NASA subcontract focused on lunar exploration activities.

The agreement assigns Firefly responsibility for transporting four specialized drones to the Moon’s south pole region under NASA’s MoonFall mission framework. The target launch date is set for 2028.

MoonFall represents the initial phase of NASA’s ambitious Moon Base program, which seeks to establish a permanent human footprint and foster both scientific research and commercial operations at the lunar south pole.

Firefly Aerospace Inc., FLY

The drones themselves are being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which will also oversee mission operations. NASA plans to secure the launch vehicle through a separate procurement process.

Following liftoff, Firefly’s Elytra vehicle will transport the four drones during a 45-day journey to lunar space. After achieving orbit around the Moon, the spacecraft will initiate a deorbit sequence and perform a controlled braking burn.

Drone deployment is planned at approximately 50 kilometers altitude above the Moon’s southern polar region. The operation demands precise technical execution, and Firefly believes its Elytra platform is uniquely qualified for this assignment.

CEO Jason Kim referenced the company’s proven capabilities with Blue Ghost, which achieved a successful lunar landing. “Built upon the same proven systems that landed Blue Ghost on the Moon, our Elytra spacecraft are equipped to deploy critical high-mass payloads across cislunar space,” he stated.

Elytra Takes Center Stage in Lunar Operations

Kim characterized the MoonFall award as aligned with Firefly’s core mission objectives. “This subcontract underscores our commitment to executing challenging missions that push the boundaries of lunar exploration,” he remarked in Tuesday’s announcement.

Elytra functions as a cislunar transfer system engineered to transport cargo between Earth orbit and lunar destinations. Its assignment on MoonFall marks its most prominent operational deployment since supporting the Blue Ghost mission.

The mission architecture demands that Elytra execute both deorbit and braking procedures prior to releasing the drones — a more technically challenging sequence than conventional lunar surface delivery missions.

MoonFall Advances NASA’s Broader Lunar Vision

MoonFall isn’t an isolated endeavor. It supports NASA’s comprehensive Moon Base initiative, which targets the development of permanent infrastructure at the lunar south pole.

The southern polar region has emerged as a priority destination for lunar missions due to potential water ice reserves located within permanently shadowed crater formations. Aerial drones offer survey capabilities in terrain that wheeled rovers struggle to access.

Firefly’s earlier Blue Ghost lander mission, which successfully touched down on the Moon earlier this year, validated the company’s lunar delivery capabilities. This proven track record likely influenced NASA’s decision to select Firefly for the MoonFall subcontract.

The $75 million award expands Firefly’s existing portfolio of NASA collaborations. The company has steadily strengthened its position within the commercial lunar services marketplace in recent years.

FLY stock closed Tuesday’s trading session up 18.81% at $58.81.

Crypto-backed political groups supported several winning candidates in Texas primary runoffs Tuesday, highlighting the digital asset industry’s growing role in US elections as Congress debates new rules for crypto markets.

Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican US Senate runoff against four-term Senator John Cornyn by a wide margin, according to Texas primary runoff results, and will face Democratic state Representative James Talarico in November.

In Houston’s 18th Congressional District, Democrat Christian Menefee unseated fellow Democrat representative Al Green in a decisive win after Republican-led redistricting forced the two incumbents into the same district, ousting one of the state’s most senior House members.

Democrats and Republicans Alex Mealer and Jon Bonck also secured their party’s nominations in competitive Houston-area House races.

The contests drew heavy spending from crypto-aligned political action committees (PACs) focused on a small number of high-stakes races, and come as Congress debates new rules for digital asset markets, including legislation to define crypto market structure and establish a framework for dollar‑pegged stablecoins.

Stand With Crypto assigned Al Green an “F” rating. Source: Stand With Crypto

Victories by candidates backed by crypto-focused PACs in a politically influential state could give the industry additional allies as those measures advance.

Crypto money reshapes key Texas races

Two races in particular show how that money is being deployed. Protect Progress, an affiliate of the Fairshake super PAC backed by firms including Ripple and Coinbase, reported spending about $5 million to support Menefee and a further $2.8 million on advertising opposing Green in the Houston race.

Another crypto-focused group, Fellowship PAC, funded in part by financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald and crypto custodian Anchorage Digital, reported roughly $500,000 in spending to boost Paxton over Cornyn in the Senate runoff.

Fairshake’s Republican affiliate, Defend American Jobs, also backed four winning Republican candidates, Jon Bonck, Tom Sell, Carlos De La Cruz and Alex Mealer.

Related: Texas Lt. Gov. calls for study of crypto, prediction markets 

Texas runoffs test crypto’s political power

Bitcoin-focused policy advocate Dennis Porter commented on Menefee’s victory, saying, “A pro crypto Democrat just ousted a 20-year incumbent Democrat who was anti crypto. Nature is healing,” a nod to what many in the industry saw as years of Democratic-led “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” campaigns, in which bank regulators and enforcement agencies have been accused of squeezing crypto firms out of the financial system.

While much of crypto PACs’ recent spending in the state has gone to Republican candidates, Menefee’s win gives the groups a high-profile Democratic ally in Texas.

The crypto advocacy group, Stand With Crypto, assigned Green an F grade for his strong opposition to industry-backed legislation, while Menefee is rated as supportive of digital asset innovation.

Prediction markets had strongly favored the crypto-aligned challengers heading into election day. Contracts on regulated and crypto-native platforms implied odds of over 90% that both Paxton and Menefee would prevail, with nearly $15 million reportedly traded on markets tied specifically to the Paxton vs Cornyn runoff.

Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs — Mid-2026

China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) said it will study new adjudication rules for virtual currency and cross-border finance cases as part of a broader push to clarify how courts handle digital economy disputes.

“We will conduct in-depth research on the adjudication rules for new cases such as virtual currencies and cross-border finance, formulate judicial interpretations on civil compensation involving insider trading and market manipulation as soon as possible,” said Liu Guixiang, Judicial Committee member of the SPC, during a press conference, reported Chinese news outlet Yicai on Wednesday.

The court also plans to study judicial protection rules for artificial intelligence cases and data property rights, including disputes involving data ownership, data transactions and AI-generated content.

The development aims to draft clearer internal judicial standards on how courts should decide disputes and liability in crypto and AI intellectual property rights-related lawsuits. The promised guidelines may improve the court’s consistency in the growing number of crypto and AI-linked cases in the country.

The comments come months after a high-profile lawsuit involving Chen Zhi, the Chinese-born founder and chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Group, who was arrested in Cambodia on Jan. 6, 2026, and extradited to China shortly after, where he faces charges related to operating pig butchering scam compounds. 
In October 2025, the US Department of Justice seized about $15 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from Zhi’s suspected operations.

US authorities charge Chen Zhi and seize $15 billion in Bitcoin. Source: Justice.gov

China’s ban on all crypto transactions remains in place

Mainland China has had a rocky relationship with the cryptocurrency industry.

In December 2013, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) banned financial institutions from offering Bitcoin-related services and stated that Bitcoin was not recognized as a currency, in its first major prohibitive step against the crypto industry.

Related: South Korean funeral company records $33M unrealized loss on leveraged ETH ETFs

In September 2021, ten Chinese agencies, including the central bank and securities regulators, issued a blanket ban on all crypto transactions, Bitcoin mining and activities tied to initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the country. 

In February, the PBOC banned the issuance of unauthorized offshore Chinese yuan-pegged stablecoins and the unapproved issuance of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

The structure of the digital yuan, China’s CBDC. Sources: Cointelegraph

The latest ban came shortly after the Chinese government approved commercial banks to share interest with clients holding the country’s digital yuan, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) managed by state authorities. 

The development signal that the PBOC is doubling down on its efforts to launch its own yuan-backed CBDC as a new form of digital fiat money, instead of stablecoins.

Magazine: 50K investors fight Korean crypto tax, Singapore cancels Bsquared: Asia Express

South Korean prosecutors have charged a group linked to the Solana-based memecoin CATFI, also known as Catpie, in what local outlets described as the country’s first prosecution tied to a rug pull on a decentralized exchange. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, through its Virtual Asset Crime Joint Investigation Division, arrested the core suspects. The lead figure, identified by the surname Park, allegedly posed online as “Eth Father” and promoted CATFI as an independent third-party project before the scheme unfolded, according to Digital Asset Works.

Investigators say the defendants used social media to hype CATFI, driving the token’s price up more than 1,000-fold within about 26 hours. They then sold their holdings for roughly 400 million won in illicit profits, while the rug pull inflicted about 900 million won ($599,000) in losses on at least 256 investors. The case represents a rare legal action in South Korea against memecoin price manipulation under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act.

Prosecutors noted that rug pulls are deceptive exit scams in which project creators cultivate investor interest, only to abandon the project and siphon away funds. Cointelegraph reached out to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for comment but had not received a response by publication as the investigation unfolds.

The case adds to the ongoing scrutiny of domestic crypto markets and comes as South Korea’s crypto trading activity has cooled. Digital Asset Works highlighted a broader market backdrop in which won-based exchanges have seen trading volumes shrink relative to the KOSPI stock market, underscoring heightened regulatory attention to market manipulation and investor protection.

Key takeaways

.li>First confirmed arrest in a memecoin rug pull under South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act, tied to the CATFI/Catpie case.
• CATFI surged over 1,000 times in price within 26 hours before promoters sold approximately 400 million won in illegal profits; roughly 900 million won in losses reported across at least 256 investors.
• The token’s market profile collapsed from an all-time peak to a dramatic 99% decline, with on-chain data showing 1,512 holders remaining as of now and the largest holder controlling about 18% of supply.
• Domestic market context features a notable drop in won-based trading volume, highlighting regulatory and market headwinds for memecoins and similar high-risk assets.
• Related incidents this year underscore ongoing risk in meme tokens, including high-profile rug pulls tied to social media-driven hype and influencer-linked projects.

CATFI’s rise and fall in context

CATFI briefly reached an all-time market capitalization of about $8.99 million in February 2025, but the subsequent rug pull and exit scam knocked the token back into a lurching decline. Data from Pump.fun indicates that, despite the collapse, a significant portion of investors—about 1,512 holders—still appear to be holding CATFI in hopes of recovery. The largest known address, a wallet labeled “5Q54,” reportedly held around 18% of the token’s supply at the time data was compiled. The project’s former promoter’s X (Twitter) account has since been deleted, reflecting the erasure of public-facing outreach tied to the campaign.

The legal action signals that authorities are increasingly willing to pursue coordinated manipulation cases in the memecoin space. Rug pulls—where developers promote a token to attract funds and then abruptly abandon the project—have long threatened retail investors, particularly in communities built around social media-driven hype. The CATFI case is positioned as a test of South Korea’s enforcement under evolving crypto consumer protection standards.

However, the CATFI saga is not isolated. In May, Cointelegraph reported on another Solana memecoin linked to Keith Gill’s Roaring Kitty persona that experienced a separate rug pull, with the anonymous developer cashing out about $729,000 while investors saw steep losses. The episode, alongside the CATFI case, underscores the volatility and risk profile of meme-oriented assets even as markets evolve and regulators scrutinize suspicious activity more closely.

For individual traders, the CATFI episode illustrates how quickly momentum-based tokens can flip from rapid gains to devastating losses. One trader reportedly saw a loss approaching six figures in a short period during a recent memecoin event, highlighting the real-world stakes involved in these crowded, speculative spaces.

Regulatory backdrop and market dynamics in South Korea

The CATFI case arrives amid a downturn in domestic digital asset trading activity. Digital Asset Works’ coverage notes that won-based exchanges have seen shrinking volumes, with overall activity in the Korean market growing more cautious in the face of regulatory scrutiny and increased risk awareness among investors. The development underscores a broader tightening environment where authorities emphasize consumer protection, anti-manipulation measures, and accountability for project teams behind high-risk tokens.

South Korea’s enforcement trajectory—with the CATFI investigation marking a potential precedent—could influence how future memecoin launches are treated under existing laws. While the case does not conclusively determine the long-term legality of memecoins themselves, it demonstrates that orchestrated price manipulation and exit schemes are increasingly susceptible to legal repercussions, potentially reshaping project funding dynamics and investor diligence in the domestic market.

What comes next for CATFI and the market

As prosecutors proceed with the case, observers will be watching how charges unfold, whether additional arrests follow, and what implications this may have for the broader memecoin ecosystem in South Korea. The outcome could influence how exchanges assess listing risk, how influencers disclose promotional activity, and how investors evaluate exit risk in hype-driven tokens. In the near term, CATFI’s holders face a challenging landscape: questions about potential refunds, recovery pathways for defrauded investors, and the sustainability of token liquidity in the wake of the rug pull remain unresolved.

Readers should watch for further updates from South Korean authorities as the investigation progresses, along with any court rulings that could redefine enforcement norms for memecoins and similar schemes. The CATFI case may serve as a bellwether for how regulatory regimes balance innovation and investor protection in a fast-moving, social-media-driven segment of the crypto market.