Recently, there has been a shocking case in the crypto world that really warrants everyone's attention. A friend used a bank card to buy and sell U coins for arbitrage, and with only 6.8 million in transactions, he was sentenced to 3 years. The charge was concealing and disguising criminal proceeds. When I saw this case, I realized that many people have no idea what they are actually doing.

Let's talk about the most common pitfalls. If you receive funds in U coins from scams, even just once, you can be charged with aiding and abetting a crime. Someone sold 100,000 U coins to a scam group and was sentenced to 1.5 years. More seriously, the crime of concealing and disguising criminal proceeds involves knowingly continuing to transfer funds that are suspicious. That friend of mine did just that—knowing the buyer was a money laundering group, he continued to transfer 2.4 million U coins and was ultimately sentenced to 3 years and 2 months. There’s also the crime of illegal business operations—reselling U coins is considered illegal foreign exchange trading. Someone once operated an OTC platform with over 300 million in transactions and was sentenced to 5 years.

Many people think that as long as they are not directly involved in scams, they are safe. But the legal cases involving U coin scams tell us that indirect transfer of stolen funds is also illegal. Some believe cash transactions are safer, but large cash transactions with unknown sources can still be suspected of money laundering. Some even say that only dealing with familiar contacts is risk-free, but if your upstream trader gets caught, you could also be implicated.

The key standards courts use to determine penalties are these: First, whether you have come into contact with scam funds—even once; second, the transaction volume and frequency—if it exceeds 200,000 in flow, it may lead to an investigation; third, whether you have used anonymous tools like Telegram—using them can easily be seen as knowing or willful.

If you are still engaged in off-market U coin trading, I advise you to stop immediately. Don’t think that unfreezing your bank card means you’re safe—that’s self-deception. If you are summoned, first ask to see the officer’s badge, and before signing anything, make sure to read every detail carefully. Then, immediately contact a lawyer.

If you are already under investigation, what you can do now is print out your bank transaction records with official stamps, organize all information about your trading counterparts, and prepare proof of legitimate sources of funds. Lastly, a reminder: U coins are virtual property but not legal tender. Professionally reselling U coins is equivalent to illegal foreign exchange trading. If you received U coin funds involved in scams and did not stop trading immediately, you are very likely to be considered as knowingly involved. This is not alarmist; it’s the real legal consequence.