On August 21, according to Anhui Business Daily, a man named Zheng sued Zhao to the Feidong County Court, demanding repayment of the debt. Zhao claimed that the debt had already been repaid to the other party in the form of virtual currency and that the two parties no longer had any debt disputes.

There are legal risks involved in participating in virtual currency investment and trading activities. Any civil legal acts related to investing in virtual currencies and related derivatives by legal persons, non-legal persons, and natural persons that violate public order and good customs are invalid, and any losses resulting from this shall be borne by themselves.

Therefore, Zhao's behavior of paying off the debt with virtual currency is not protected by law. Zhao argued that he had already repaid the debt in virtual currency, but the court did not accept this. Therefore, the court ruled that Zhao must repay the remaining loan of 89,000 yuan to Zheng. Zhao appealed the first-instance judgment and appealed to the Hefei Intermediate Court, but the second-instance court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.