A Guangzhou court ruled that a virtual currency loan agreement was invalid in a case highlighted by Guangdong High People’s Court among its 2025 top 10 commercial finance cases. In July 2023, a borrower took a loan of one unit of virtual currency and signed an IOU requiring repayment on time, with repayment value based on the higher price and a 24% annual penalty interest rate for overdue payment. The court found the clause using the higher price for repayment effectively guaranteed the lender gains from token price swings and was therefore invalid. Because the virtual currency could not be returned after the contract was deemed invalid, the borrower was ordered to compensate for property losses. With no legal pricing mechanism for virtual currency, the court calculated losses based on the lender’s acquisition cost, setting compensation for one unit at 199,600 yuan.