Crypto Exchange China: What’s Really Happening with Crypto Trading in China
When China banned crypto exchanges, licensed platforms that let users buy, sell, or trade digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Also known as cryptocurrency trading platforms, it meant local businesses could no longer operate as intermediaries between users and crypto markets. But the story didn’t end there. While exchanges like Binance and Huobi pulled out of China in 2021, trading didn’t vanish—it just went quiet. Millions of Chinese users kept trading, not through official apps, but through peer-to-peer networks, offshore platforms, and stablecoin bridges. The government thought cutting off exchanges would stop crypto. It didn’t. It just made it harder to track.
What’s really going on? Bitcoin China, the term used to describe China’s massive, underground crypto activity despite official bans. Also known as China’s crypto underground, it isn’t about mining anymore—it’s about survival, inflation protection, and accessing global money. After the 2021 mining crackdown, Chinese users didn’t stop using crypto—they switched from mining to holding and trading. Many now use USDT (Tether) to move money across borders, bypassing strict capital controls. This isn’t speculative gambling for most. It’s how people protect savings from currency devaluation, pay freelancers overseas, or send money to family abroad. The Chinese crypto regulations, strict rules enforced by the People’s Bank of China that ban financial institutions from handling crypto transactions. Also known as crypto ban in China, it targets banks and payment processors, not individual users. That’s why you won’t see a Chinese app called "CryptoExchangeChina"—but you’ll find thousands of WeChat groups, Telegram channels, and OTC desks operating under the radar.
What you’ll find in this collection isn’t a list of banned platforms. It’s a look at what actually happened after the ban: how users adapted, how scams popped up pretending to be Chinese exchanges, and how some platforms quietly kept serving Chinese traders from overseas. You’ll read about exchanges that vanished overnight, airdrops targeting Chinese users with fake apps, and how people in China still earn and move crypto without a bank account. This isn’t theory. It’s real behavior, backed by data from traders who’ve lived through the crackdown. If you think China killed crypto, you’re missing the whole picture. The real story is how it survived.
