China Escalates Its Crypto Crackdown with Full Ownership Ban
This isn’t just another ban. It’s Beijing doubling down on control, while Chinese-led firms quietly dominate the crypto world offshore.
China has always been a major crypto superpower, with reports claiming the country is the second-largest holder of BTC in the world, holding no fewer than 194,000 BTC.
This is rather ironic, because despite dominating crypto adoption and birthing some of the most powerful crypto companies and founders in the world, the country itself has never been a big fan of digital currencies.
From day one, the Chinese government has made it clear that it believes crypto is a threat to financial control, and Beijing prefers to keep a tight grip on its monetary systems. That tension has only grown over the years, and now, it’s reached a whole new level.
China’s clampdown started in 2013 with warnings to banks, escalated in 2017 with bans on ICOs and local exchanges, and intensified in 2019 with fresh restrictions on crypto services. By 2021, it drove out miners in a sweeping crackdown. Still, individuals could technically hold crypto, until now.
In its most sweeping move yet, China is now banning even the ownership of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin—a shift from restricting usage to criminalising possession. With the digital yuan rolling out, the government is clearing out competition and curbing capital flight, tightening control over digital finance under one currency. It’s part of a broader push to clear the way for China’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan, which the government is aggressively promoting as the only legal digital asset.
Unsurprisingly, markets reacted. Bitcoin dipped. Altcoins fell harder. But seasoned investors aren’t panicking—some even see this as a buying opportunity.
Interestingly, too, Chinese crypto entrepreneurs haven’t stepped back; they’ve simply gone global. Founders like Changpeng Zhao (Binance), Justin Sun (TRON), and Jihan Wu (Bitmain, Matrixport) have built crypto empires abroad, in hubs like Singapore, Dubai, and the Seychelles. Binance alone has over 270 million users globally as of 2025, despite its roots in a country where crypto is now fully illegal.
But circling back to the issue at hand, China’s ban may actually accelerate the decentralisation of crypto across Asia, driving innovation into more welcoming jurisdictions. Whether this means investors should “buy the dip” or cash out while they can is a whole other story. Either way, the paradox remains: China may reject crypto at home, but it still holds the keys to much of its global future.
