This page gives the latest information on STFIL, as collected and checked by the Filecoin Foundation. Latest updates are at the top; answers to frequently asked questions are below that.
The deadline given by the Hanshou police for STFIL customers to provide details to them passed on July 10th; the two Chinese legal firms working with lessors, Zhong Lun and DHH, worked with their clients to give them this data. While this police deadline, and the date set by both law firms to join their case have now passed, it may still be possible to find representation: please contact Danny O’Brien at [email protected] if you are in this situation, and we will try to help you find support.
The next major stage of the process will be for the STFIL case to work its way through the Chinese legal system. We understand that the police transferred the case materials to the procuratorate for further review on August 10. Now the procurator (roughly equivalent to a prosecutor in other legal systems) will work on reviewing the charges brought by the police.Before the police announced details of their investigation and deadline, the Filecoin Foundation had commissioned Zhong Lun to independently investigate what was happening in Hanshou, as well as conduct legal research and analysis to develop the substantive arguments for the case. As an update, Zhong Lun have now rolled this latter research into their ongoing representation of their STFIL clients.
A summary of the current STFIL situation, especially for those only now hearing about it:
In April, local law enforcement in Hanshou, a city in the Hunan province of China, arrested members of the STFIL team. The police made this group of STFIL employees move all the FIL held by the company into a Filecoin wallet controlled by the police. (More details here.)
On June 10th, the Hanshou police bureau posted a message on their official WeChat account requesting ****that STFIL customers register details of their STFIL accounts by July 10th, 2024.
While the police did not promise to return these customers’ FIL, they did say any FIL not registered would be to “dispose[d] of in accordance with relevant laws”. This means that if you fail to register on time, you may lose your chance to seek return of your FIL tokens.
Filecoin community members have formed a group (the “511 Changsha Tourist Group") to get their FIL returned, and have fundraised to obtain legal counsel for their members from DHH, a Chinese law firm. The Tourist group has extended the deadline to join this collective until July 7th.
Another well-known Chinese law firm, Zhong Lun, is also available to help individual and institutional lessors retrieve their FIL. Details on contacting Zhong Lun about representation are listed below.
Both firms can help with registration with the police. While we recommend that all STFIL lessors obtain expert legal advice on whether and how to register properly, ultimately the decision is yours. The police have said they will accept registrations directly. **We’ve included here the information provided by the police on how to register,** with their contact phone number and consultation hours, as well as the address in Hanshou to send these details. (Note that the police has also said that these documents may require notarization, but notarization can take place after the July 10th deadline.)
For more information, see the FAQ, or join the **#stfil-response Slack channel** (here’s an invite to the Filecoin Slack server). For more frequent discussion with other lessors, the Tourist group has set up a community Discord.
This page will be updated with any significant new developments.
<aside> ❗ ❗ The Hanshou police have requested that STFIL lessors whose FIL was seized by the police register a claim with the police by July 10, or otherwise the police will liquidate the unclaimed FIL tokens.
While legal representation is not required to register, Filecoin Foundation strongly recommends that lessors obtain legal counsel to assist in recovery of their leased FIL, and evaluate the risks of filing such a claim. This update includes information about and contact details for two potential **alternatives for legal counsel for lessors,** along with detailing the information requested by the police. Lessors may also obtain their own counsel elsewhere. Please note that registration, with or without counsel, does not guarantee the police will return the FIL tokens.
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