Chinese circumvent crypto ban en masse with stablecoins

China has been firmly tying down the crypto sector for years, but that doesn't mean its use will disappear. On the contrary, the number of Chinese wallets sending stablecoins directly to other users has grown by a whopping 43 times in just over two years.

According to new figures from blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the number of unique wallets for peer-to-peer transactions with stablecoins grew by a factor of 43 between the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2026.

This is striking, because China is known for its strict crypto policy. Trading through central platforms is severely restricted, making users increasingly appear to trade directly from wallet to wallet.

In the period from July 2025 to June 2026, $104.1 billion was sent via self-managed stablecoin wallets. This was spread over 18.1 million transactions.

The speed with which the coins change ownership is also striking. Stablecoins in China were moved an average of 33.2 times per year. Globally, that average is only 9.3 times.

This indicates that stablecoins are not only used as a means of saving in China, but above all as practical payment and working capital.

Stablecoin usage in China. Source: Chainalysis

Chainalysis now estimates the total Chinese crypto economy at at least 176 billion dollars. Of this, 59.1 percent is accounted for by domestic peer-to-peer activity.

That share is 3.5 times higher than a year earlier. In March 2026 alone, domestic stablecoin volume increased by $4.9 billion.

That growth comes at a striking moment. Chinese authorities re-tightened the rules in February, targeting, among other things, unauthorized stablecoins pegged to the yuan.

Still, crypto activity seems to be moving rather than disappearing. Where investors in other countries often trade through exchanges and regulated platforms, in China a much larger share is directly between users.

This makes the Chinese market more difficult to see through traditional trading platforms. At the same time, the figures show that stablecoins play an increasingly important role in daily crypto transactions despite the restrictions.