China Eyes Fresh Crackdown on Crypto Amid Resurgence in Speculative Trading

In brief

Officials said speculative crypto activity has resurfaced, creating new challenges for financial risk control.
The PBOC reiterated that virtual currency transactions, including stablecoins, constitute illegal financial activity.
Despite restrictions, an estimated 59 million Chinese users continue accessing offshore platforms and decentralized tools.

Chinese authorities are renewing their focus on stopping crypto trading in the country amid a new surge in interest in speculative trading.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) warned that virtual currencies, including stablecoins, do not have the same legal status as legal tender and cannot be used as currency in the market.“Virtual currency-related business activities constitute illegal financial activities,” it said.

Its comments came following a high-level meeting last week between the PBOC, the Ministry of Public Security, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Central Financial Stability and Development Office, the Supreme People’s Court and other government departments.

The latest push underscores Beijing’s long-standing stance that all virtual currency transactions are illegal and potentially destabilizing, even as tens of millions of Chinese users continue to access offshore trading services.

In 2021, it published a notice on preventing virtual currency speculation and cracked down on trading, a measure the PBOC said “rectified the chaos in the virtual currency market, achieving significant results.”

Crackdowns also extended to crypto mining, forcing the once-dominant domestic mining industry offshore.

China has used a combination of measures to crack down on trading, Lacie Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, told Decrypt, including technical blocks, financial restrictions, platform moderation and public-risk campaigns.

Access to foreign exchanges is restricted via the national firewall, and Chinese app stores have flagged offshore exchange apps as high-risk. Banks and payment institutions are barred from processing crypto-linked transactions.

Short-video and lifestyle platforms such as Douyin (TikTok parent company, ByteDance) and Xiaohongshu (Rednote) have also expanded crackdowns on investment-related or crypto-promotional content, complemented by regular state-media warnings about fraud and speculative risks.

“Together, these measures reduce visible on-shore participation while leaving some activity to migrate to offshore or less transparent channels,” Zhang said.

“China’s policies have been effective at reducing formal, on-shore participation: domestic exchanges exited the market, mining operations relocated, and retail trading activity became far less visible.”

However, these measures have not eliminated interest entirely. China has around 59 million crypto users in 2025, representing about 8–10% of global users, crypto-focused media company CoinLaw.io estimates.

“Activity has partially shifted to offshore platforms, cross-border markets, and more decentralized tools. The result is a market where official participation is limited, but underlying demand and engagement persist in more distributed and less transparent forms,” Zhang said.