A blockchain engineer who used his position to obtain virtual currency for profit was sentenced to three and a half years in prison

On November 21, according to the Worker's Daily, the People's Court of Changping District, Beijing, recently released a case in which an employee used his position to obtain virtual currency for profit, which constituted the crime of illegally obtaining computer information system data. Zhang, a blockchain engineer at an internet company, learned that there was a large amount of Ethereum in his account when he participated in the development of the project, and planned to attack the company's account to obtain it. He took advantage of his work to ask his colleagues for program codes and private keys that exceeded his authority, and shared them with a "technical exchange group". He invited group members to crack and attack the company's account, successfully obtaining 106.15 Ethereum, and illegally profiting 38,329.76 yuan.
The court held that Zhang violated the regulations by illegally obtaining Ethereum information in the company's computer system and trading for profit, which constituted the crime of illegally obtaining computer information system data. Although there are loopholes in the company's management, this is not an exoneration reason for Zhang's crime. In the end, Zhang was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison, fined 60,000 yuan, and recovered 38,329.76 yuan of illegal income. 2nd-Moderround ruled to reject the appeal and uphold the original sentence.