A review of China's virtual currency regulatory policies over the years

On November 28, 2025, the People's Bank of China convened a meeting of the coordination mechanism for combating speculation in virtual currency trading. Officials from the Ministry of Public Security, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Central Financial Stability and Development Office, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Justice, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Financial Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange attended the meeting. The meeting pointed out that in recent years, all units have earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and in accordance with the requirements of the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation" jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and ten other departments in 2021, have resolutely cracked down on virtual currency trading and speculation, rectified the chaos in the virtual currency market, and achieved significant results. To fully understand this regulatory signal, let's first review the regulatory milestones that have truly changed the direction of the industry in China over the past decade.

01 Key Policies of the Central Bank and Regulatory Authorities in Combating Virtual Currencies Over the Years

02 Key Points of the Meeting on November 28, 2025

This meeting is not about "changing the rules," but about "strengthening enforcement." The key points can be summarized in four points: 1. The regulatory stance remains unchanged: The comprehensive ban continues. Reiterating: Virtual currencies are not currencies and do not have legal tender status; all virtual currency-related businesses are illegal financial activities; financial institutions and payment institutions must not provide any facilitation. There is no sign of any relaxation in the regulatory direction.

2. Stablecoin Risks Raised to Formal Meeting Level for the First Time

• Stablecoins (USDT/USDC) were specifically mentioned:

• Difficult to meet KYC/AML requirements;

• Easily used as tools for cross-border fund transfers, money laundering, and fraud;

• They will become a key target for investigation in the future.

This is the most important "new signal" from this meeting ...Stablecoins (USDT/USDC) were specifically mentioned:

Difficult to meet KYC/AML requirements;

Easily used as tools for cross-border fund transfers, money laundering, and fraud;

Stablecoins will become a key target for investigation in the future.

This is the most important "new signal" from this meeting.

Stable

3. Comprehensive Upgrade of Collaborative Supervision of "Information Flow + Capital Flow"

The meeting required:

• The Cyberspace Administration of China monitors information flow (social media, publicity and hype, and traffic-driving pages);

• The People's Bank of China/banks supervise capital flow (recharge, withdrawal, and collection links);

• Public security departments establish rapid response mechanisms for money laundering and fundraising fraud;

• Strengthen cross-departmental data sharing, risk monitoring, and law enforcement cooperation.

This means that the coverage of supervision will be more "full-chain" and "intelligent".

4 This is an action deployment meeting, not a new legal document

There are no new definitions or new rules; the main purpose is to have various departments continue to tighten and implement the 2021 framework; especially emphasizing the crackdown on speculation, cross-border channels, and stablecoin links.

03 Actual Impact on the Crypto Industry

Although it is not a new round of "large-scale cleanup," it still has a significant impact on the domestic environment.

1. Stablecoin OTC Trading Difficulty Further Increases Because of being specifically named, therefore: The probability of off-exchange merchants' payment codes and bank accounts being subject to risk control has increased; Individuals purchasing stablecoins may more easily trigger risk control measures; Large transactions and transactions during specific time periods will be subject to closer scrutiny. This will reinforce the trend of "gray channels" becoming even "greier." 2. On-chain crime, money laundering, and money transfers will be precisely targeted. The combination of "information flow + capital flow" will make money laundering, money transfers, black and gray market chains, fake NFTs, GameFi fundraising, and pyramid scheme-style blockchain games easier for algorithms to identify. 3. Limited impact on the global crypto market. The reasons are very practical: China is no longer in a dominant position in crypto trading and mining; global BTC pricing power lies with US ETFs, international capital flows, and macroeconomic factors; Chinese regulation has a significant impact on "domestic participants" but a weak impact on "global prices." This is completely different from 2017 and 2021. Bitcoin remained relatively stable around $90,000 before and after the meeting, without any significant drop triggered by policy news. (Recent BTC volatility is mainly due to global macroeconomic factors and ETF fund flows, rather than Chinese regulation.) Summary: The main regulatory theme remains unchanged, but enforcement has been "strengthened." In short, the changes in China's regulatory logic can be summarized as follows: 2013: Defining virtual goods → 2017: Crackdown on exchanges/ICOs → 2021: Comprehensive definition of illegal financial activities → 2025: Increased enforcement + focused crackdown on stablecoins. The following can be expected in the future: Stablecoin regulation will continue to tighten; cross-border transactions will be closely monitored; gray market supply chains will continue to be cleaned up; and the overall attitude towards public blockchain tokens will remain "prohibited, not recognized, not participated in, and not supported." Disclaimer: The content of this article represents only the author's views and does not promote or endorse any business or investment activities. It does not constitute actual investment advice. Readers are advised to establish correct investment concepts and enhance their risk awareness.