China has declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal and outlawed crypto mining activities.

The court of Beijing’s Chaoyang District heard a contract dispute over delayed returns from bitcoin mining and ruled that the service contract was “void”, according to a notice from the court On December 15.

Many crypto firms still keep engineering and operational forces in the country while touting services to overseas customers, though China has deemed all crypto transactions, trading and investment illegal.

The country began weighing crypto mining bans as early as 2019 and started to seriously ramp up enforcement in 2021. Virtual currency mining is “energy-intensive, produces high carbon emissions and contributes little to the economy,” said a September notice from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planner, and such activities “should be eliminated.”

The Beijing court said that the signed contract,“is void because it undermines social and public interests.” As such, its related rights and interests “should not be protected by the law” and the parties involved “should bear the consequences” of their actions.