Evolution of Regulatory Policies on Virtual Currencies in Chinese Mainland

The Chinese mainland continues to maintain a high-pressure regulatory stance on virtual currency-related business activities. According to policies jointly issued by multiple departments including the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Public Security, virtual currency trading, token issuance and financing (ICOs), and overseas virtual currency exchanges providing services to domestic residents via the internet are all explicitly defined as illegal financial activities.

Against this backdrop, major global mainstream virtual currency exchanges (including Binance, OKX, HTX, etc.) successively announced their withdrawal from the Chinese mainland market between September and December 2021, halting new user registration services for domestic users and gradually clearing out and delisting existing users and applications.

Current Status and Scope of Services of Global Mainstream Trading Platforms

Following their complete withdrawal from the Chinese mainland market, major leading cryptocurrency trading platforms have comprehensively pivoted toward overseas compliance and international development, establishing offshore operational teams to primarily serve compliant users in other global jurisdictions.

  • Binance: Focuses on global market compliance and license applications, providing a wide range of spot, derivatives, and Web3 ecosystem services.
  • OKX: Continues to advance its globalization strategy, securing regulatory licenses or registrations across multiple overseas jurisdictions.
  • Bitget and Bybit: Centered on derivatives trading and globalized localized operations, expanding their businesses in regions such as Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Compliance Risk Warning

Due to varying regulatory policies across jurisdictions, users must strictly comply with local laws and regulations when engaging in cryptocurrency trading. App stores in certain regions have delisted or restricted access to relevant trading applications. Participants are advised to closely monitor the latest compliance requirements in their respective jurisdictions to mitigate potential legal and capital security risks.