Dubai court rules crypto transfer was contractual, ordering full repayment, compensation
Plaintiff had been communicating with the defendant through a chat-based trading platform to convert cryptocurrency into dirhams.Pexels
Dubai: A European woman has won a civil lawsuit in Dubai after losing a large sum of cryptocurrency she transferred to another woman under an agreement to cash it out in exchange for bank cheques intended for a property purchase, Emarat Al Youm reported.
The recipient failed to deliver the promised cheques and later claimed without evidence that her digital wallet had been “hacked,” prompting the court to order her to repay Dh2,281,099, covering the transferred funds and compensation.
According to case documents, the plaintiff had been communicating with the defendant through a chat-based trading platform to convert cryptocurrency into dirhams.
She transferred digital assets worth $621,533 to the defendant’s wallet in exchange for two cheques: a 10 per cent deposit for a property she planned to buy and a manager’s cheque for the remaining amount.
Despite confirming receipt of the cryptocurrency, the defendant issued no cheques and returned no funds.
The plaintiff told the court she incurred penalties for missing her property payment deadline, and attempts at an amicable settlement failed.
The court appointed a two-member technical committee specializing in securities and digital assets to examine the wallets and transactions.
The experts confirmed that the cryptocurrency was successfully transferred to the defendant’s wallet and that she provided no proof of theft, no police report, no technical evidence, and no documentation of any breach.
The defendant failed to attend any hearing despite being formally notified.
In its judgment, the court found that the digital transfers and message exchanges constituted a binding agreement, stressing that “a contract is formed by mutual consent even if not written.” The defendant’s claims of theft were dismissed as unsubstantiated.
The court concluded that the defendant had breached her obligations and caused financial harm, ruling that her actions constituted a wrongful act requiring compensation.
She was ordered to repay Dh2,261,099 plus Dh20,000 in damages, along with legal fees and Dh1,000 in attorney costs.
About The Author
