As a criminal lawyer in the field of cryptocurrencies, we frequently see in practice that a large number of retail cryptocurrency traders and U-merchants have their bank cards frozen because they unfortunately received stolen money during the transaction, or are suspected of money laundering crimes.
How to ensure that your card will not be frozen when you go out of U has become a problem that everyone is concerned about.
Where there is demand, there is a market, so the USDT bank card was born.
Previously, Lawyer Shao analyzed the issues related to U cards in the article " Can MasterCard U Card and UnionPay U Card be guaranteed to be issued safely without being frozen? " This article wants to talk about whether being a U card agent in China is a legal and good business.
Author: Lawyer Shao Shiwei
0 1. Four major misconceptions of U card agents
❓As long as the agent is a regular U card issuer, it will be fine
When promoting U-cards on social media platforms at home and abroad, many UP hosts and KOLs will explain that the U-card issuers they represent, such as Pokepay, THpay, Cryditcard, etc., are certain large listed companies with authoritative qualification licenses issued by overseas countries such as the United States and Canada. They also show users the detailed background check details they have done on the U-card issuers to enhance their persuasiveness and make users realize that the U-cards they represent are issued by formal companies, so they can buy them with confidence without the risk of swallowing up user funds or running away.
❓As long as you do a good job in after-sales and maintain good customer relationships, everything will be fine
Compared with the overseas issuers of U cards, domestic U card agents are the domestic publicity and promotion personnel of U cards; compared with users, they act as merchants, selling U cards and providing consulting as well as pre-sales, in-sales and after-sales services.
For example, the U card issuer has set up a KYC review mechanism, and users need to fill in their overseas mobile phone numbers before they can receive verification codes. However, mainland users do not have overseas mobile phone numbers, so the U card agent helps users contact customer service to provide convenience for customers.
❓I only sell U cards, not buy and sell U to make a profit, so it is legal
U merchants make money by buying and selling virtual currencies. Since transactions are relatively high frequency, no matter whether the difference collected is higher than the market price or the same as the market price, they may receive black money, which will involve relevant legal risks. Therefore, U card agents believe that they are only selling related physical cards or virtual cards and do not touch OTC transactions, so there is no legal risk.
❓As long as you promote it on foreign social media platforms such as Telegram, Twitter (X), YouTube, etc., it will be fine.
Some U-card agents may consider that virtual currency transactions are risky in China, and selling U-cards in China will also be more sensitive. Therefore, they will transfer the promotion platform from domestic platforms such as WeChat Moments, Douyin, and Bilibili to foreign social media platforms such as Telegram, Twitter (X), and YouTube.
In order to expand publicity, enhance their influence and cover more potential users, many U card agents will set up Telegram groups to allow users to communicate freely within the group. If users encounter problems with the card, they can seek help from group members in a timely manner even if they are not online.
0 2. What legal risks should I pay attention to when working as a U card agent in China?
In China, as long as the business you are engaged in is related to virtual currency, you must pay attention to the relevant provisions of the 94 Announcement, 924 Notice, etc. According to the 924 Notice, "virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities" and "it is not allowed to provide network business venues, commercial displays, marketing promotions, paid traffic diversion and other services for virtual currency-related business activities."
Overseas U card issuers, if their countries do not prohibit the issuance of U cards and authorize relevant qualifications and licenses, are naturally legal entities, but this does not mean that the issuance, promotion and sale of U cards in my country are legal. According to the above 924 notice, being a U card agent in China can be regarded as providing commercial display, marketing and promotion services for virtual currency-related business activities. In this way, the business operations of U card agents will inevitably involve relevant legal and policy risks.
However, there is still a huge market demand in China, so many people are eager to do this business, and believe that as long as they can maintain good customer relationships and there are no customer complaints, there will be no problem. They will even transfer their publicity to overseas platforms and communicate with customers on encrypted software such as Telegram.
However, whether there will be related problems in the process of using U Cards, and whether these problems can be solved, are beyond the control of U Card agents, and they may not necessarily be solved. For example, if U Card deducts the money recharged by users, and the issuer is overseas, domestic users can only vent their anger on domestic agents when it is difficult to protect their rights. If users report the case to protect their rights, will the public security organs charge the agents with a crime based on the 924 notice? No one can say for sure.
Although U card agents sell the cards themselves and do not involve transactions in virtual currency, it cannot be guaranteed that all buyers purchase for their own use. As Lawyer Shao has previously analyzed, the possible scenarios for U card buyers to use U cards for transactions are:
If the buyer of a U card is suspected of money laundering, will the U card agent, as the party providing the tool (U card), be identified as a co-offender?
In addition, illegal use of information networks is also a common crime. If a U card agent forms a group and a user in the group uses the U card to defraud others or participate in money laundering, the group owner will be suspected of this crime.
(Comment section of a video posted by a U card agent)
0 3. Written at the end
In China, since virtual currency-related business activities are classified as illegal financial activities, no matter whether the U card issuer has obtained legal qualifications abroad, the promotion of U card agents will have a certain degree of legal risk. In other words, the legal risk of being a U card agent in China is not necessarily lower than that of being a U merchant.
Therefore, from the perspective of risk prevention, we do not recommend that U-card agents carry out any form of U-card agency, promotion or sales activities in China. Otherwise, the relevant risks will always exist.
