Overview of China's Virtual Currency Regulatory Policies
Since September 2021, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and nine other departments jointly issued a notice, explicitly defining virtual currency-related business activities as illegal financial activities, strictly prohibiting and cracking down on them in accordance with the law. This includes the exchange between legal tender and virtual currencies, transactions between virtual currencies, buying and selling virtual currencies as a central counterparty, providing virtual currency trading information intermediary and pricing services, token issuance financing, and virtual currency-related financial product transactions.
It is worth noting that overseas virtual currency exchanges providing services to Chinese residents via the internet are also deemed illegal financial activities. Chinese authorities continue to strengthen monitoring and打击 such activities. For any unit or individual investing in virtual currencies and related financial products, if it violates public order and good morals, the relevant civil legal acts will be deemed invalid, and any resulting losses must be borne by the individual.
Latest Regulatory Developments in 2026
On February 6, 2026, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the National Development and Reform Commission, and six other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currencies and Other Matters" (referred to as "Document No. 42"), further escalating and clarifying regulatory policies. The new regulations reiterate the following key points:
- Virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal tender and should not and cannot circulate as currency in the market.
- It is explicitly stipulated for the first time that, without the approval of relevant departments in accordance with laws and regulations, no domestic or overseas unit or individual may issue stablecoins pegged to the RMB overseas.
- Engaging in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization activities within China, as well as providing related intermediary and information technology services, is suspected of illegal financial activities and should be prohibited.
- Domestic entities and their controlled overseas entities are not allowed to issue virtual currencies overseas without approval.
- Internet companies are not allowed to provide online business venues, commercial displays, marketing promotions, paid traffic guidance, or other services for virtual currency and RWA tokenization-related business activities.
- The registered names and business scopes of enterprises and individual businesses must not contain words or content such as "virtual currency," "virtual asset," "cryptocurrency," "crypto asset," "stablecoin," "real-world asset tokenization," or "RWA."
Market Impact and Industry Views
The Chinese government and regulatory agencies (including the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission) have consistently adhered to strict regulation, comprehensively prohibiting virtual currency trading and speculation, aiming to safeguard national financial security, monetary sovereignty, and public property rights. Regulators believe that virtual currencies pose risks such as money laundering, fundraising fraud, and illegal cross-border capital transfers, which may disrupt economic and financial order.
Affected by this policy, many overseas virtual currency exchanges, including Binance and OKX, have successively announced their "withdrawal from the mainland Chinese market" after the tightening of Chinese regulations in 2021, ceasing to provide services to mainland Chinese users or switching mainland Chinese user accounts to a "withdrawal-only" mode. Industry insiders generally believe that in the context of global compliance, the future development focus of virtual currency exchanges has shifted to international markets outside mainland China.
It is worth mentioning that after the Chinese central bank issued the ban on September 24, 2021, Bitcoin prices experienced short-term sharp fluctuations. As of the time of publication on August 31, 2026, the Bitcoin market has been weakening since the beginning of 2026, with prices falling below the $70,000 mark after February, a pullback from the historical highs of October 2025.
Conclusion: No "Official" Virtual Currency Trading Platforms in Mainland China
In summary, according to current laws and regulations in mainland China, any form of virtual currency trading and related activities are illegal financial activities. Therefore, within mainland China, there are no officially recognized or "official" virtual currency trading platforms or software. Readers should fully understand and comply with local laws and regulations, avoid participating in any illegal virtual currency trading activities, and prevent potential legal and property risks.
