China's Communist Party targets crypto in anti-corruption crackdown

China's ruling Communist Party has called for a crackdown on corruption carried out through virtual currency, blockchain and cross-border funds, naming them in a decision adopted by the Central Committee on Oct. 29 at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee and published by Xinhua on Nov. 1.

The reference appears in the decision's anti-corruption section, which calls for efforts to "resolutely crack down on corruption carried out through the internet, virtual currency, cross-border funds, blockchain and the like." The text does not name bitcoin and says nothing about trading, mining or stablecoins.

The call follows years of restrictions — the 2021 declaration that all cryptocurrency transactions are illegal and a central bank-led notice in February barring offshore yuan stablecoins and unapproved tokenization of real-world assets. The directive is framed as part of a push for "full and rigorous Party self-governance" and stricter internal discipline.