Indian court rules cryptocurrency as property, prohibits an exchange from redistributing users' XRP assets

According to Jinse Finance, Decrypt reported that the Madras High Court in India ruled on Friday that cryptocurrency constitutes constitutionally protected property, preventing an exchange from reallocating user assets under its East 8th District restructuring plan. Judge N. Anand Venkatesh issued an injunction to protect 3,532 XRP tokens, rejecting the exchange's "loss socialization" proposal following a $234 million hack in July 2024. The judge stated that while cryptocurrency is "neither tangible property nor currency," it "is a form of property that can be enjoyed and owned in a beneficial manner." The ruling establishes the legal status of crypto assets as property and stipulates that assets held in custody by exchanges must be regarded as client trust property. The court also rejected the exchange's argument that its East 8th District court-approved restructuring automatically binds Indian users. Currently, users have only received 30% of their expected funds.