Chinese man gets 12 years for stealing friend's Bitcoin

A Chinese court has finalized a sentence of 12 years and seven months in prison for a man who stole and sold his acquaintance's Bitcoin. According to the People's Procuratorate of Changshan District in Fuzhou City, the man, identified as Lin, was asked by the victim, Wang, for help cashing out Bitcoin in late 2020. During the process, Lin secretly obtained the private key to Wang's crypto wallet from his computer and transferred four BTC to his own account. He then sold the assets, making an illicit profit of approximately 900,000 yuan (about $124,000). Wang discovered the missing assets in 2024 and reported the theft, leading to Lin's arrest. An appellate court upheld the original sentence, which also included a fine of 300,000 yuan (about $41,000).