The Beijing Court in China has disclosed a virtual currency-related "Open-Box" case, where the main perpetrator illegally obtained over 900 million pieces of personal information and was sentenced to 7 years in prison.

BlockBeats News, May 9th, the People's Court of Haidian District, Beijing, China, disclosed a virtual currency-related "Open the Box" case. From 2023 to 2025, the defendants Lin and Wang illegally obtained citizens' personal information data through internet channels such as encrypted messaging tools, and later sold it for profit using methods such as virtual currency payments. It was found that Lin illegally obtained personal information data of over 600 million individuals, and Wang illegally obtained personal information data of over 300 million individuals. In 2025, Lin, Wang, and another individual, Wang (separately handled), built a "social engineering database" website using the illegally obtained personal information data. The database of this website contained a total of over 170 million individuals' personal information records. The defendants illegally provided citizens' personal information through the website over 1300 times, with the website being accessed over 100,000 times. In 2025, Lin, along with Wang and others (another separately handled case), established a group using encrypted communication tools, acted as group administrators, and posted illegal criminal information in the group including privacy infringements and insults. The group had over 2000 members.

The People's Court of Haidian District, Beijing, held that the defendants Lin and Wang, together with others, violated relevant national regulations by illegally obtaining and selling citizens' personal information. The circumstances were especially serious, constituting the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information. Lin, together with others, set up a group for carrying out illegal criminal activities, disseminated illegal criminal information, and seriously violated the crime of illegal use of information networks, warranting punishment. Lin committed multiple crimes and should be sentenced for each offense. Taking into account the facts, circumstances, and consequences of this case, Lin was sentenced to six years and six months of imprisonment and fined RMB 60,000 for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information, and sentenced to one year of imprisonment and fined RMB 10,000 for the crime of illegal use of information networks, with a total of seven years of imprisonment and a fine of RMB 70,000. Wang was sentenced to five years and six months of imprisonment and fined RMB 50,000 for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information.