China (CN)

China holds one of the world's strictest stances: cryptocurrency trading, mining, and payment services have been banned since 2021, and related business activity is treated as illegal. In parallel the state promotes permissioned enterprise blockchain (the Blockchain Service Network, BSN) and its CBDC, the e-CNY, under full data localisation and state oversight, so privacy features that limit government visibility are not viable. China is prohibitive toward public crypto and directive about permissioned and CBDC use.

Key regulations

  • 2021 Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Crypto Trading Risks
  • Anti-Money Laundering Law
  • Data Security Law / PIPL

Entities

  • financial institutions
  • payment providers
  • exchanges
  • miners

Activities

  • trading
  • mining
  • payments
  • token issuance

Developer orientation. Not legal advice.

What to Watch

  • Enforcement extending to offshore platforms serving Chinese users.
  • NFTs and DeFi sit in a gray area.
  • Hong Kong's separate, permissive regime vs mainland capital-flow controls.

See also