Overview of Virtual Item Sales Platforms
With the booming development of the digital economy, the trading of virtual items has become increasingly active. These virtual items encompass various forms, from digital content and design resources to game items and accounts. Below is a classification of major virtual item sales platforms currently on the market.
Comprehensive Digital Goods Platforms
These platforms primarily cater to creators, merchants, and consumers, offering services for selling and purchasing digital products (such as e-books, software, templates, online courses, etc.).
- International Platforms:
- Sellfy, Payhip, SendOwl, Gumroad: These platforms provide user-friendly interfaces that support digital downloads, subscription services, or direct sales of digital products to fans. They often feature website embedding and link sharing functionalities, making it easy for creators to launch and promote quickly.
- Shopify: As a well-known e-commerce platform, Shopify not only supports physical goods but also allows merchants to create online stores to sell digital products, suitable for businesses with brand building needs.
- Creative Market: This is a digital product marketplace focused on design resources, where independent creators can buy and sell design assets such as fonts, templates, and icons.
- LearnWorlds, Udemy: These platforms primarily focus on online education, providing tools and services for creating, marketing, and selling online courses.
- Amazon, AliExpress, Lazada: These global e-commerce giants also support the sale of digital goods, with AliExpress and Lazada being particularly prominent in cross-border e-commerce, especially targeting the Southeast Asian market.
- Themeforest: Specializes in the trading of web development-related digital products such as website templates, HTML code, marketing themes, and plugins.
- Mainland China Platforms:
- Qianxiquan, Keke Bang: These platforms primarily offer virtual top-up services, virtual cards/coupons, membership cards, and other third-party virtual goods sources, and support distribution channels.
- Taobao Creative Products: Taobao, as a comprehensive e-commerce platform, also gathers a large number of virtual products such as digital courses, e-books, and design materials.
- JD Cloud Market: Provides digital products and services such as software tools, cloud services, and developer tools, targeting enterprises and developers.
Game Virtual Item Trading Platforms
These platforms specialize in the trading of virtual items, accounts, equipment, and game currency within online games, meeting players' demands for game assets.
- Mainland China Platforms:
- 5173 Game Trading, Jiaoyimao: Both are influential domestic game trading platforms, offering services for mobile games and online games such as accounts, equipment, game currency, point cards, and power leveling. Jiaoyimao is affiliated with Alibaba.
- Cangbaoge: NetEase Games' official trading platform, primarily serving the trading of virtual items and accounts for NetEase's games, such as "Fantasy Westward Journey" and "Onmyoji".
- G Maimai: Shengqu Games' official partner trading platform, offering trading of accounts, point coupons, gold coins, and equipment for its games.
- Dudu Trading Platform: Provides consignment and escrow trading services for online game virtual items.
- International Platforms:
- Steam: A comprehensive digital game distribution platform in the United States, also involved in the trading of game items.
- i7391 Easy Trading Network: An online trading platform covering Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China, offering services such as game currency, items, point cards, and top-ups.
- G2A Game Store: A well-known British game shopping website.
- WeGame: Tencent's digital game store, primarily serving its game ecosystem.
Current Status and Regulation of Virtual Currency Trading in Mainland China
Mainland China's regulatory policy on virtual currency is among the strictest globally. Since 2021, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and other departments have continuously strengthened their crackdown on virtual currency-related activities.
Comprehensive Prohibition and Illegal Classification
Since September 2021, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and nine other departments jointly issued a notice, explicitly classifying virtual currency-related business activities as illegal financial activities. This includes, but is not limited to, virtual currency trading, exchange, issuance, financing, and providing information intermediary and pricing services for virtual currency trading. Even overseas virtual currency exchanges providing services to residents in mainland China via the internet are also deemed illegal activities, and relevant departments will strengthen monitoring and pursue accountability in accordance with the law.
Subsequently, regulatory actions continued to escalate. For example, in November 2025, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) led 13 departments in a meeting, reiterating the illegality of virtual currency-related businesses and stating that monitoring would be strengthened through big data, artificial intelligence, and other technologies. In February 2026, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and seven other departments again jointly issued a document, explicitly stating that all virtual currency-related business activities are strictly prohibited within the country.
Major Exchanges Exit and Market Impact
Affected by this ban, major global cryptocurrency trading platforms including HTX (Huobi), Binance, and OKEx announced their withdrawal from the mainland Chinese market before the end of 2021, ceasing to provide services to mainland Chinese users or switching accounts to a "withdrawal only" mode. Despite this, reports still indicate that cryptocurrency trading activities in mainland China are conducted underground or through overseas platforms via peer-to-peer (P2P) and other methods, but these activities face significant legal and financial risks.
Personal Holdings and Trading Risks
It is worth noting that Chinese law does not explicitly prohibit individuals from holding cryptocurrencies. However, virtual currency trading activities are considered unprotected by law. This means that in the event of trading disputes or asset losses, individuals may find it difficult to obtain effective legal protection. Furthermore, users participating in virtual currency trading may also face risks such as judicial freezing of bank cards and scrutiny of fund sources.
China Digital Asset Trading Platforms (Non-Virtual Currency)
Unlike virtual currency trading, mainland China has established national-level digital asset trading platforms, such as the Shanghai Data Exchange. These platforms focus on digital assets and IP trading in new technologies and scenarios like the metaverse and Web3, and establish compliant regulatory mechanisms under the guidance of regulatory authorities. This is fundamentally different from the prohibited virtual currency trading and aims to promote the compliant development of the digital economy.
Readers who wish to learn about the latest virtual currency market trends and regulatory dynamics can obtain relevant information on professional information platforms such as Svmuu.
Differentiated Regulation in Hong Kong
Unlike mainland China's comprehensive prohibition policy, Hong Kong adopts a different regulatory framework for virtual asset trading. The Hong Kong SFC primarily regulates platforms that provide trading services for security-type virtual assets and issues risk warnings to investors, allowing eligible virtual asset service providers to operate under strict supervision. Therefore, mainland Chinese residents who wish to participate in virtual asset activities must strictly comply with local laws and regulations and fully understand the regulatory differences and risks in different jurisdictions.
