Chinese courts turn up heat on crypto offenders

Chinese judiciary chiefs want to give courts new powers to fight financial and crypto-related crime as Beijing steps up its crackdown on Bitcoin and other private digital assets.

The Supreme People’s Court, the country’s highest judicial body, said it wants to fight insider trading and market manipulation.

“We must conduct research and strengthen our responses to new types of financial crime, in sectors such as supply chain finance, internet finance, and cryptocurrencies,” said Wang Chuang, director of the court’s Second Civil Division.

The Supreme Court’s comments come just weeks after the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reported Chinese-language money laundering networks are responsible for processing 20% of illicit crypto funds over the past five years.

Chinese-speaking money launderers processed over $16 billion in 2025, or around $44 million per day, the firm said.

Courts’ new powers

The Chinese judiciary wants to create a series of comprehensive laws to help prosecutors and courts issue stricter punishments for crypto and financial crimes, Ma Hongwei, a senior partner at Beijing Dacheng Law Firm, told Chinese media outlet Shanghai Securities News.

This will mean judges will no longer have to rely chiefly on legal precedent in crypto- and price manipulation-related cases, Ma said.

Chinese courts handled more than 2.7 million financial cases last year, including many crypto-related cases, Wang said. That represents a rise of 2% from 2024.

Wang said the judiciary must move fast to formulate “a response to new financial cases such as those involving cryptocurrencies.”

The Supreme Court said it was aware of the rise of crypto-related crime and is “aiming to unify judicial standards” on the matter.

The court called crypto “a new financial field that needs to be studied” as it formulates new regulatory and judicial responses.

“The financial sector is the backbone of the national economy and a key component of China’s core competitiveness,” said Wang. “We must support the development of a sound financial system.”

Beijing has reiterated its zero-tolerance stance on crypto in recent months. In December, the central People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, said it was stepping up efforts to combat crypto “speculation and trading.”

The bank said it would continue to uphold bans on crypto trading and “crack down on illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies, and protect the safety of the public.”

Earlier this month, the bank and China’s securities regulators banned most forms of yuan-pegged stablecoins and real-world asset-related projects.

Crypto scams rising

Meanwhile, reports of crypto-related crime continue to appear in the Chinese press with increasing frequency.

Police in Macau say a woman in the special administrative region fell victim to a sophisticated crypto scam that saw her lose $163,000.

Officers said an online acquaintance recommended she download a crypto trading app that offered users a range of bonuses, including monthly cash payouts.

At first, she thought the app was helping her make money, and successfully withdrew over $70 from the platform, reported Macau-based media outlet TDM.

However, when she attempted to withdraw more funds from the platform, she received a message instructing her to pay a hefty tax bill before she could make further withdrawals.

She filed a report with the police, who identified the platform as fraudulent.

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected].