Overview of China's Cryptocurrency Regulatory Environment
Since 2013, the Chinese government has continuously tightened its regulation of cryptocurrencies. In September 2021, ten departments, including the People's Bank of China (PBOC), jointly issued a notice comprehensively prohibiting cryptocurrency trading and mining activities, explicitly stating that overseas virtual currency exchanges providing services to Chinese residents via the internet also constitute illegal financial activities. Since then, the Chinese government has repeatedly reiterated and expanded the scope of the ban.
- Comprehensive Ban and Illegal Activities: The 2021 ban classified all cryptocurrency trading activities within China as illegal. On May 31, 2025, the Chinese government once again emphasized a comprehensive ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining. On February 6, 2026, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued a directive further expanding the ban to real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and CNH (offshore RMB)-pegged stablecoins, and classifying any conversion between fiat currency and cryptocurrency as "illegal financial activity," subject to severe criminal penalties.
- Legality of Personal Holdings: Despite the trading ban, merely holding cryptocurrencies itself is generally not considered illegal in China.
- Promotion of Digital Yuan: The Chinese government is actively promoting its central bank digital currency (digital yuan), which is seen as part of its strategy to restrict the development of decentralized cryptocurrencies.
Major Global Trading Platforms with Chinese Origins
Although there are no legally operating cryptocurrency trading platforms within mainland China, some platforms founded by Chinese teams that have completely shifted their business focus overseas still play an important role in the cryptocurrency market due to their historical background and global influence, and may serve some Chinese users through unofficial channels.
Binance (Binance)
Binance was founded in China by Changpeng Zhao in 2017, but quickly moved its headquarters overseas due to regulatory reasons and currently has no official headquarters. By daily trading volume, Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally. As of June 2025, its spot and futures markets have a daily trading volume exceeding $217 billion, serving 280 million users worldwide.
- Historical Market Share: In May 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese users' trading volume once reached $90 billion, accounting for 20% of Binance's total trading volume, making it Binance's largest market at the time (excluding ultra-high-volume traders). A 2024 survey showed that 96.72% of Chinese crypto users surveyed used Binance, and 63.15% stored most of their digital assets on Binance, demonstrating its continued influence among specific user groups.
HTX (formerly HTX Huobi)
HTX was founded in China by Li Lin in 2013 and rebranded as HTX in September 2023. After the 2017 Chinese ban, HTX stopped Bitcoin withdrawals and ceased providing services to mainland Chinese customers in September 2021, shifting to global operations.
- Historical Market Share: In December 2013, HTX's trading volume once exceeded 30 billion RMB, making it the largest digital assets trading platform in China at the time. In November 2016, its total trading volume reached 1.7 trillion RMB, at one point accounting for over 60% of the global Bitcoin trading market.
- Current Operations: As of 2025, HTX has accumulated over 55 million registered users globally, with an annual accumulated trading volume of approximately $3.3 trillion, and spot trading volume exceeding $1.9 trillion USDT. HTX's P2P trading desk still maintains an extensive network of Alipay and WeChat Pay merchants, facilitating stablecoin trading for mainland users.
OKX (formerly OKCoin)
OKX was founded in China by Star Xu in 2013 and was one of the earliest Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges. As regulations tightened, OKX shifted its business focus overseas, headquartered in Hong Kong, and later moved towards Western markets.
- Historical Market Share: OKX once accounted for a significant portion of China's total cryptocurrency trading volume. In 2024, OKX's trading volume reached $6 trillion. A survey in the same year showed that 83.53% of Chinese crypto users surveyed used OKX, and 25.3% stored their digital assets on OKX, ranking second.
- Current Operations: Its RMB P2P trading desk handles a large volume of mainland stablecoin transactions and accepts mainland Chinese ID cards for KYC.
Other Platforms with Chinese Origins
- KuCoin: Listed as one of the major Chinese-founded exchanges, operating globally.
- Bitget: Also on the list of major global exchanges. A 2024 survey showed that 39.95% of Chinese crypto users surveyed used Bitget.
Other Mainstream Global Trading Platforms
In addition to the platforms with historical ties to China mentioned above, there are many other mainstream global cryptocurrency trading platforms that Chinese users may access through VPNs, but they need to be aware of the laws and regulations of their location and the platform's policies.
- Coinbase: One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, with total assets of $206.98 billion.
- Kraken: Known for security and transparency.
- MEXC: One of the major global exchanges.
- Gemini: A well-known exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers.
- Bitfinex: Although operating in Hong Kong, it is legally considered an exchange registered outside of China.
- Crypto.com: One of the major global exchanges.
- Bybit: One of the major global exchanges.
- CEX.IO: Founded in 2013, offering fiat-to-crypto trading, with offices in the UK, US, Ukraine, Cyprus, and Gibraltar.
Realities and Risks of Chinese User Participation in Cryptocurrencies
Despite the strict ban imposed by the Chinese government, networks of intermediaries within China continue to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions by circumventing government controls. Chinese users still access overseas platforms for trading through VPNs and other means. However, this form of participation carries extremely high legal and operational risks.
- Legal Risks: According to Chinese law, participating in cryptocurrency trading activities constitutes illegal financial activity and may face severe criminal penalties.
- Regulatory Crackdown: The Chinese government continues to crack down on various acts of circumventing the ban, including monitoring and freezing related capital flows.
- Platform Risks: Overseas platforms may, due to compliance requirements or policy adjustments, cease services for mainland Chinese users at any time, leading to the inability to withdraw digital assets.
Therefore, for residents in China, participating in cryptocurrency trading carries significant legal and asset security risks, and it is imperative to fully understand and comply with local laws and regulations.
