Chinese Courts Recognize Digital Assets as Inheritable Property

A judicial precedent has been established in China allowing heirs to inherit digital assets such as game accounts, cryptocurrency, and social media profiles.

The court decisions recognize these assets as property that can be included in an inheritance, unlike many other countries where users only hold a license to use digital content.

In one notable case, the Golden Blade case, a player named Lu obtained a rare artifact called Golden Blade in the MMORPG Zhengtu. After his death, his wife Li Lan attempted to sell it, but another player, Yang Yuan, claimed she had rights to the item as well since she helped acquire it.

The court ruled that the artifact had a market value of approximately 50,000 yuan and therefore qualified as property that could be part of the inheritance. The court split its value equally between Li Lan and Yang Yuan, considering Yang's efforts in acquiring the artifact.