As the saying goes, falsehood can travel the globe while truth is still preparing. This old adage rang true early Sunday in Beijing when baseless speculation regarding a renewed Chinese crackdown on crypto assets, including Bitcoin, began circulating online.
Originating seemingly from Telegram channels and amplified on X (formerly Twitter), the unverified information rapidly spread to prominent accounts boasting millions of followers. Among these were FirstSquawk, PolyMarket, Kalshi, and Unusual Whales, all of whom shared the story without providing any supporting evidence.
The reality? It’s a false alarm.
For those following the cryptocurrency world since 2016-2021, these types of rumors are nothing new. Each year, the claim that China has imposed yet another ban resurfaces.
China has indeed taken steps to regulate cryptocurrencies. In 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission actively discouraged crypto mining, ordering its cessation, but allowed established operations to conclude business over a winding down period.
The rationale behind this was that the Chinese government viewed mining as “an energy-intensive and inefficient activity,” and this has been successful in curtailing large mining operations.
Furthermore, in 2024, the People’s Bank of China declared that cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender, and citizens were prohibited from engaging in initial token offerings or exchanging tokens.
This particular regulation has proven less effective, as the buying, selling, and trading of crypto persists on the Chinese mainland.
Keep reading: China promotes its CBDC amid tariff tensions affecting the Yuan
New Regulations Unlikely to Emerge on Weekends
The timing of the alleged ban – early Sunday morning in Beijing – was the first red flag, indicating a lack of veracity in the rumors.
Absent an emergency situation, it’s generally safe to assume that government bodies, in China or elsewhere, are not enacting new laws during weekends.
It seems unlikely that Xi Jinping convened an emergency session of the National People’s Congress on a Sunday morning to reinstate a crypto ban.
Secondly, no prominent Chinese news sources, such as Xinhua, CCTV2, or China Daily, reported on the supposed ban. Even English-language versions of Chinese publications, including the South China Morning Post and Global Times, carried no such report.
The lesson to be learned is that when unverified rumors are disseminated by high-profile social media accounts on platforms like X – accounts which often benefit financially from user engagement – it’s crucial to exercise caution. Always cross-reference information with reliable sources on the ground or trusted news outlets.
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