While global financial hubs are easing cryptocurrency regulations to foster innovation, China seems to going in a completely opposite direction by doubling down on legal research to refine its crypto enforcement strategy.

Recent moves by China’s judiciary and top regulatory bodies suggest that the country is reinforcing its strict ban on digital assets rather than reconsidering its stance.

Supreme Court Leads High-Level Crypto Legal Discussion

Earlier this week, China’s Supreme People’s Court led a high-level seminar to examine the legal status of cryptocurrencies and how courts should handle crypto-related disputes.

The meeting, attended by top judicial authorities and legal scholars, signals a renewed focus on how China enforces its crypto ban and addresses emerging legal challenges in the sector.

Legal experts analyzed criminal and civil cases involving digital assets, debating new enforcement strategies. Yang Dong, a professor at Renmin University of China, emphasized the national financial security risks associated with virtual assets, advocating for a stronger regulatory framework.

Zhai Chao, the vice president of the Supreme Court’s third criminal division, backed Yang's suggestion and proposed for a research-driven legal strategy that balances legal theory with real-world application.

China’s Crypto Stance: A Softening or a Hardening?

China has been a country that has been notorious for its stringent and harsh attitude towards crypto. Back in 2021, the country enforced a sweeping ban on crypto currency trading and mining, forcing many exchanges and businesses to shut down and some relocate.

Beijing has also placed a strict ban prohibiting foreign exchanges from serving Chinese companies. Despite the ban, the decentralized finance and decentralized exchange activities have surged, seemingly suggesting that enforcing such a ban on a decentralized entity such as blockchain might be more difficult than expected.

This brings us back to the meeting, and what was the intention of this meeting. Are the Chinese trying to think of new ways to restrict and tighten its ban through legal proceedings by using the harsher laws and punishment to deter more users from dabbling into crypto?

But optimists proposed a completely different theory, claiming that the Chinese Supreme Court is holding this legal meeting as they prepare for a possible unbanning of Bitcoin and Crypto.They claim that over the years, the Chinese government has made some concessions and has been more accepting of cryptocurrency than before.

Quoting notable instances like the time when a Beijing court deemed Bitcoin legal property, which grants owners similar rights to traditional assets, and another ruling that affirmed that owning crypto wasn't illegal seems to suggest that the Chinese government has been being more accepting of crypto.

As global regulators move toward clearer rules on digital assets, China’s judicial system appears intent on defining its own approach—whether to adapt to the evolving landscape or further entrench its crackdown. Either way, the outcome of these legal studies will shape the country’s long-term stance on crypto regulation and its broader role in the digital economy.