It is certain to violate the law, and whether it constitutes a crime depends on the seriousness and specific nature of the circumstances.

The following focuses on the analysis of illegal business and fraud (including fraud, contract fraud and fund-raising fraud) involved in underground gold futures trading fraud.

(A) the nature of the crime of illegal business operations

According to the provisions of Article 225 of the Criminal Law, anyone who illegally engages in futures business in violation of state regulations without the approval of the relevant competent departments of the state shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business. Then, can the fraudulent behavior of underground gold futures trading be classified as "illegal futures business"? Literally, it can't be completely denied. First of all, from the object of crime, "underground gold speculation" is called "underground" because it engages in gold futures trading activities without the approval of the relevant departments, which violates the administrative licensing system for organizing futures trading, the management system and order of the gold futures market, and its behavior conforms to the objective elements of the crime of illegal business operation, as well as "violation of state regulations" and "irrelevant to the state" as stipulated in Article 225 of the Criminal Law.

Secondly, from the objective behavior, organizers and participants who illegally operate gold futures use various fraudulent means to defraud investment clients' funds, which undoubtedly belongs to illegal business activities and should belong to the category of "illegal futures business". In practice, most underground gold futures markets require investors to deposit or remit funds in foreign currency under the guise of domestic agents of overseas trading institutions.

Thus acting as an "underground money house." Article 4 of the NPC Standing Committee's Decision on Punishing Crimes of Cheating, Evading and Illegally Trading Foreign Exchange stipulates that anyone who illegally buys or sells foreign exchange outside the trading places stipulated by the state and disrupts the market order, if the circumstances are serious, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business operation. Therefore, some people argue that underground financial futures trading cases can be handled from the perspective of violating the state's foreign exchange control, and that underground financial futures trading behavior constitutes the crime of illegal business operation.