Can Businesses in China Accept Crypto Legally in 2025?

As of 2025, businesses in mainland China cannot legally accept cryptocurrency under any circumstances. It’s not a gray area. It’s not a matter of compliance or paperwork. It’s a criminal offense.

There’s No Loophole, No Exception

If you run a store, an online shop, a restaurant, or a service business in mainland China, and you try to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency as payment-you’re breaking the law. Not just breaking rules. Breaking criminal statutes. The government doesn’t just discourage it. It punishes it.

The rules changed in May 2025, when China passed new legislation that made it illegal to even own cryptocurrency. That means holding it in a wallet, trading it, mining it, or accepting it as payment-all of it is now a crime. Before, businesses were blocked from using crypto for payments. Now, the very act of receiving it puts you at risk of arrest, fines, asset seizure, and even imprisonment.

This isn’t a minor policy tweak. It’s the final step in a 12-year campaign to wipe cryptocurrency out of China’s financial system. The government didn’t just shut down exchanges in 2017 or ban mining in 2021. It built a surveillance system to track every digital transaction, then made owning digital assets a criminal act.

How Enforcement Works

Financial institutions in China are required to monitor every transaction for signs of cryptocurrency activity. Banks, payment processors like Alipay and WeChat Pay, and even fintech startups must flag any movement of funds linked to crypto wallets or exchanges. If your business receives a payment that traces back to Bitcoin, the system automatically alerts authorities.

The Ministry of Public Security, the People’s Bank of China, and the Cyberspace Administration all work together. They don’t wait for complaints. They actively scan blockchain data, cross-reference bank records, and use AI tools to detect patterns that suggest crypto use. Even if you think you’re hiding it by using a peer-to-peer transfer or a privacy coin, the system still finds it.

There’s no KYC for crypto because there’s no legal crypto. Instead, there’s a blacklist of known crypto addresses. If your customer sends money from one of those addresses-even if they’re just a friend paying you back for dinner-you’re on the radar.

Why China Did This

China’s goal isn’t to stop innovation. It’s to control money. The government launched the digital yuan (e-CNY) in 2020 as its own state-backed digital currency. Unlike Bitcoin, the digital yuan is fully traceable. The central bank knows who sent it, who received it, and what it was spent on.

Cryptocurrencies threaten that control. They let people move money outside the system. They let businesses bypass capital controls. They let individuals store value without government oversight. That’s dangerous to a regime that wants every yuan accounted for.

By banning crypto, China removes competition to its own digital currency. It prevents capital flight. It stops people from using Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation or currency devaluation. And it ensures that all digital financial activity flows through state-monitored channels.

Hong Kong Is Different-But Not a Workaround for Mainland Businesses

Hong Kong, as a special administrative region, operates under different rules. It has licensed crypto exchanges, allows stablecoin trading, and even permits crypto-linked investment products. Some mainland Chinese investors buy shares in Hong Kong-listed crypto firms to get exposure to digital assets.

But here’s the catch: that doesn’t let you accept crypto as payment in Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Beijing. The ban applies to mainland China only. If you’re a business operating in mainland China, you can’t use Hong Kong’s rules as an excuse. Cross-border crypto payments are still illegal. If your online store ships to mainland customers and accepts Bitcoin, you’re violating the law-even if your company is registered in Hong Kong.

What Happens If You Try?

In 2024, dozens of small businesses were raided for accepting crypto. One Beijing-based tech startup that started taking Ethereum for software subscriptions was shut down. The owners were fined 2 million RMB (around $275,000 USD) and banned from running any business for five years. Their bank accounts were frozen. Their domain names seized.

In another case, a restaurant in Chengdu that accepted Dogecoin for coffee and dumplings had its owner arrested. The court ruled that accepting crypto was “illegal financial activity,” even though the amount was less than $500 total.

There are no “small violation” exceptions. The law doesn’t care if you’re a one-person shop or a multinational. If you accept crypto, you’re breaking the law.

What Can Businesses Use Instead?

The only legal digital payment method in China is the digital yuan. The government is pushing it hard. Major retailers, public transit systems, and even street vendors now accept e-CNY through QR codes. It works like a mobile wallet but is fully integrated with the banking system.

Businesses that want to stay compliant have two options:

• Use the digital yuan for all transactions
• Stick to traditional RMB payments via bank transfers, Alipay, or WeChat Pay

There’s no third option. No gray area. No workaround. The government has made it clear: digital money in China is state money.

What About Foreign Businesses?

If you’re a foreign company selling to customers in China, you still can’t accept crypto. Even if your company is based in the U.S. or Singapore, if your website accepts Bitcoin from a Chinese IP address, you’re violating Chinese law. The government blocks access to foreign crypto exchanges. It pressures payment processors to cut off services to businesses that facilitate crypto transactions with Chinese residents.

Some foreign e-commerce platforms have been forced to disable crypto payments for users in China. Others have added geo-blocks to prevent Chinese customers from selecting crypto as a payment method.

Will This Change?

Don’t expect it to. The 2025 law wasn’t a reaction to a crisis. It was the end goal of a decade-long strategy. China is investing billions into expanding the digital yuan’s reach. It’s integrating it into international trade deals, especially with Belt and Road partners.

Meanwhile, the government continues to crack down on crypto-related content online. Social media posts promoting crypto are deleted. Telegram channels are blocked. Even educational videos about Bitcoin are removed.

The message is clear: China doesn’t want its citizens to think about crypto. It wants them to think about the digital yuan.

Final Reality Check

If you’re running a business in mainland China and you’re wondering whether you can accept crypto, the answer is no. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not next year. The law is absolute. The enforcement is real. The penalties are severe.

There’s no legal path. No licensing option. No grandfather clause. No loophole.

Your safest, smartest, and only legal move is to accept RMB payments-through the digital yuan, banks, or approved apps. Anything else is a risk you can’t afford to take.