China Doubles Down on Crypto Ban After Detecting New Trading Activity

China’s cardinal slope has reasserted its strict prohibition connected crypto trading pursuing signs of renewed speculation successful virtual assets.

The People’s Bank of China convened a high-level gathering connected November 28, 2025, with 13 authorities agencies to coordinate enforcement and ace down connected amerciable integer currency activities that person precocious resurfaced contempt years of sweeping bans.

The gathering specifically flagged stablecoins arsenic posing risks for wealth laundering, fraud, and amerciable cross-border money transfers.

Officials emphasized that virtual currencies deficiency ineligible tender presumption and cannot relation arsenic wealth successful China’s markets, portion related concern activities represent amerciable fiscal behaviour that undermines economical stability.

Source: Pan Gongsheng, Central Bank Governor. | Source: Reuters

According to Reuters, Hong Kong-listed companies with crypto vulnerability saw crisp losses pursuing the announcement of a renewed crackdown.

Yunfeng Financial Group, which has been expanding into tokenization businesses, dropped much than 10% successful aboriginal Monday trading. Bright Smart Securities fell astir 7%, portion digital-asset level OSL Group mislaid implicit 5%.

The selloff reflected marketplace fears that Beijing’s hardline stance could derail Hong Kong’s ambitions to go a integer plus hub.

The metropolis passed stablecoin authorities successful May and received expressions of involvement from much than 40 firms seeking licenses nether its caller regulatory framework, including large fiscal institutions similar Circle and Standard Chartered.

Liu Honglin, laminitis of Man Kun Law Firm, said the cardinal slope connection “has erased immoderate ambiguity, speculation and illusions” astir China’s stablecoin policies, noting that “regulators person drawn a factual reddish enactment connected what utilized to beryllium a vague borderline.“

Despite China’s broad prohibition connected crypto trading and mining since 2021, enforcement remains difficult.

Recent information from Luxor’s Global Hashrate Map shows China inactive accounts for 14.05% of Bitcoin’s full computing power, oregon astir 145 exahashes per second, placing it 3rd globally down the United States and Russia.

Authorities person uncovered aggregate underground operations successful caller months.

In February, constabulary dismantled a cross-border banking web that laundered implicit $136 cardinal utilizing crypto to bypass fiscal regulations.

Investigators noted that 18 retired of 49 underground banking cases successful 2023 progressive integer currency transactions, demonstrating however criminals accommodate to exploit integer assets.