2024년 가상자산 중요판례평석

This article analyzes the key rulings related to virtual assets delivered by the courts in 2024. The six selected rulings are categorized into three main areas: administrative law, civil law, and criminal law. In 2024, the number of virtual asset-related rulings is in the thousands, with six cases singled out for their legal significance. 2024 saw the delivery of more weighty judgments compared to previous years. The Supreme Court specifically provided detailed criteria for determining whether a virtual asset service provider is required to report under the Act on the Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information. While these rulings were ultimately finalized through decisions such as non-prosecution dismissals or small-amount appeal dismissals, the court also addressed issues including whether virtual assets qualify as investment contract securities, and whether foreign individuals could seek direct monetary refunds from exchanges without passing through real-name verified accounts, such as those from K-Bank. In another case, involving the theft of a hardware wallet containing Ethereum, the issue arose as to which exchange’s price should be used to calculate the tort damages. The plaintiff argued that the price from the exchange with the highest value should serve as the basis for the calculation, but the court rejected this argument, ruling that the price from the exchange with the highest trading volume should be applied. Other issues included whether virtual asset exchanges should apply the FIFO (First In, First Out) method for evaluating virtual assets held under the Corporate Tax Act, as well as whether exchanges should be held liable for negligence in cases of hacking-related damages.